Bring Your Wine and Drink it Too

This summer as you leave the house to go out to a restaurant don’t forget your bottle of wine.  This may sound like an odd concept, but Virginians might be doing more of this once a new state law takes effect on July 1.

On Tuesday, the State Senate passed Bill 1292, which will allow restaurants with ABC licenses to permit customers to bring their own bottle of wine into their dining establishments.  In turn, the restaurants will be able to charge corkage fees, which typically run from $15 - $75 per bottle.

Restaurants make much of their profit from alcohol sales,  however, some restaurateurs don’t see it that way.

“I’m OK with that,” said Vintage 50 owner, Anthony Cavallo.  “If I’m going to make $15-$20 for doing nothing but opening a bottle of wine that will help, not hurt me,” he added.

Co-owner of Lightfoot Restaurant, Carrie Whitmer, doesn’t believe that many locals will choose to bring in their own bottles.

“Part of the charm of going to a restaurant is to have the restaurant’s experience, not yours,” she said. 

Some customers, however, want to enjoy a particular wine that the restaurant doesn’t carry.  In that case, it might be worthwhile to bring in your own bottle.  

“We try to bring in a well-rounded variety of wines to handle most palates, however the more varieties that we offer, the more inventory we have to carry,” said Cavallo.

“If we can’t get a particular type of wine, we are happy to allow customers to bring it in,” said Whitmer.