News Release

June 28, 2007
News Release Contact:
Becky Gettings - (804) 213-4419
E-mail: pubrel@abc.virginia.gov

ABC Announces New Licenses Available for Customers

Five New Licenses Available

Richmond - Caterers, wine and beer retailers, farm winery, restaurant, and meal-assembly kitchen owners, lend us your ears; The Virginia Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) announces five new licenses available for business owner customers. The new licenses were passed into law by the members of the 2007 General Assembly and will be effective July 1. Applicants are encouraged to visit ABC's Web site at www.abc.virginia.gov to download forms for the new licenses.

Catering owners who regularly provide food and beverages to others for service at private gatherings or at special events can now apply for the Mixed Beverage Limited Caterer's License. The new license, which is attractive for the smaller catering business owner, allows the owner (licensee) to sell and serve alcoholic beverages for on-premise consumption for up to 12 events per year. The license fee is $500 per year.

The Internet Wine Retailer License will allow persons who own an establishment with adequate inventory, shelving, and storage facilities, and which is not a retail store open to the public, to take orders for wine via Internet or telephone, and ship the wine directly to consumers. The license fee is $150 per year.

The Restricted Wholesale Wine License was created for a non-profit non-stock corporation to be formed by the Commissioner of the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. This corporation will have the ability to distribute up to 3,000 cases of wine per year, per winery or farm winery client. The license fee is $185 per year per client. Wineries interested in this privilege will apply to the Department of Agriculture's non-profit non-stock corporation to be added as a client.

Off premises wine and beer retailers, as well as breweries, wineries, and farm wineries that originally lost their delivery privileges as a result of the 2005 4 th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision in Brooks v. Vassar, may apply for the Delivery Permit, which will allow them to deliver up to four cases of wine or beer per delivery to consumers. For in-state licensees, there will be no additional cost to add this permit. For out-of-state licensees, the license fee is $120 per year.

Restaurant owners wanting to serve liqueurs with coffee, or other nonalcoholic beverages, may apply for the Limited Mixed Beverage Restaurant License. The new license allows the licensee to sell and serve no more than six varieties of liqueurs that can only be combined with coffee or other nonalcoholic beverages for consumption in dining areas of the restaurant. The license fee ranges from $460 to $1,330 per year based upon seating capacity in the establishment.

Intended for meal-assembly franchises, the Meal-Assembly Kitchen License will allow licensee owners who offer customers ingredients for the preparation of meals in professional kitchen facilities to provide a limited amount of beer or wine to customers. Specifically, the licensees will have the ability to serve no more than two five-ounce glasses of wine or two 12-ounce glasses of beer per customer at special events or private gatherings at the establishment. The license fee is $100 per year.