Virginia Code 4.1-200: Exemptions from licensure
The licensure requirements of this chapter shall not apply to:
Terms Used In Virginia Code 4.1-200
- Alcohol: means the product known as ethyl or grain alcohol obtained by distillation of any fermented liquor, rectified either once or more often, whatever the origin, and shall include synthetic ethyl alcohol, but shall not include methyl alcohol and alcohol completely denatured in accordance with formulas approved by the government of the United States. See Virginia Code 4.1-100
- Alcoholic beverages: includes alcohol, spirits, wine, and beer, and any one or more of such varieties containing one-half of one percent or more of alcohol by volume, including mixed alcoholic beverages, and every liquid or solid, powder or crystal, patented or not, containing alcohol, spirits, wine, or beer and capable of being consumed by a human being. See Virginia Code 4.1-100
- Authority: means the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority created pursuant to this subtitle. See Virginia Code 4.1-100
- Beer: means any alcoholic beverage obtained by the fermentation of an infusion or decoction of barley, malt, and hops or of any similar products in drinkable water and containing one-half of one percent or more of alcohol by volume. See Virginia Code 4.1-100
- Board: means the Board of Directors of the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority. See Virginia Code 4.1-100
- Farm winery: means (i) an establishment or cooperative located in the Commonwealth on land zoned agricultural that has (a) a vineyard, orchard, or similar growing area that produces fruits or other agricultural products used to manufacture the wine of such farm winery, subject to the requirements set forth in § 4. See Virginia Code 4.1-100
- Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
- Gourmet brewing shop: means an establishment which sells to persons to whom wine or beer may lawfully be sold, ingredients for making wine or brewing beer, including packaging, and rents to such persons facilities for manufacturing, fermenting and bottling such wine or beer. See Virginia Code 4.1-100
- Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
- Licensee: means any person to whom a license has been granted by the Authority. See Virginia Code 4.1-100
- Residence: means any building or part of a building or structure where a person resides, but does not include any part of a building that is not actually and exclusively used as a private residence, nor any part of a hotel or club other than a private guest room thereof. See Virginia Code 4.1-100
- Special event: means an event sponsored by a duly organized nonprofit corporation or association and conducted for an athletic, charitable, civic, educational, political, or religious purpose. See Virginia Code 4.1-100
- United States: includes the 50 states, the District of Columbia the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and the United States Virgin Islands. See Virginia Code 1-255
- Wine: includes any wine to which wine spirits have been added, as provided in the Internal Revenue Code, to make products commonly known as "fortified wine" which do not exceed an alcohol content of 21 percent by volume. See Virginia Code 4.1-100
1. A person in charge of an institution regularly conducted as a hospital or sanatorium for the care of persons in ill health, or as a home devoted exclusively to the care of aged people, who administers or causes to be administered alcoholic beverages to any bona fide patient or inmate of the institution who is in need of the same, either by way of external application or otherwise for emergency medicinal purposes. Such person may charge for the alcoholic beverages so administered, and carry such stock as may be necessary for this purpose. No charge shall be made of any patient for the alcoholic beverages so administered to him where the same have been supplied to the institution by the Board free of charge.
2. The manufacture, sale and delivery or shipment by persons authorized under existing laws to engage in such business of any medicine containing sufficient medication to prevent it from being used as a beverage.
3. The manufacture, sale and delivery or shipment by persons authorized under existing laws to engage in such business of any medicinal preparations manufactured in accordance with formulas prescribed by the United States pharmacopoeia; national formulary, patent and proprietary preparations; and other bona fide medicinal and technical preparations; which contain no more alcohol than is necessary to extract the medicinal properties of the drugs contained in such preparations, and no more alcohol than is necessary to hold the medicinal agents in solution and to preserve the same, and which are manufactured and sold to be used exclusively as medicine and not as beverages.
4. The manufacture, sale and delivery or shipment of toilet, medicinal and antiseptic preparations and solutions not intended for internal human use nor to be sold as beverages.
5. The manufacture and sale of food products known as flavoring extracts which are manufactured and sold for cooking and culinary purposes only and not sold as beverages.
6. Any person who manufactures at his residence or at a gourmet brewing shop for domestic consumption at his residence, but not to be sold, dispensed or given away, except as hereinafter provided, wine or beer or both, in an amount not to exceed the limits permitted by federal law.
Any person who manufactures wine or beer in accordance with this subdivision may remove from his residence an amount not to exceed fifty liters of such wine or fifteen gallons of such beer on any one occasion for (i) personal or family use, provided such use does not violate the provisions of this subtitle or Board regulations; (ii) giving to any person to whom wine or beer may be lawfully sold an amount not to exceed (a) one liter of wine per person per year or (b) seventy-two ounces of beer per person per year, provided such gift is for noncommercial purposes; or (iii) giving to any person to whom beer may lawfully be sold a sample of such wine or beer, not to exceed (a) one ounce of wine by volume or (b) two ounces of beer by volume for on-premises consumption at events organized for judging or exhibiting such wine or beer, including events held on the premises of a retail licensee. Nothing in this paragraph shall be construed to authorize the sale of such wine or beer.
The provision of this subdivision shall not apply to any person who resides on property on which a winery, farm winery, or brewery is located.
7. Any person who keeps and possesses lawfully acquired alcoholic beverages in his residence for his personal use or that of his family. However, such alcoholic beverages may be served or given to guests in such residence by such person, his family or servants when (i) such guests are 21 years of age or older or are accompanied by a parent, guardian, or spouse who is 21 years of age or older, (ii) the consumption or possession of such alcoholic beverages by family members or such guests occurs only in such residence where the alcoholic beverages are allowed to be served or given pursuant to this subdivision, and (iii) such service or gift is in no way a shift or device to evade the provisions of this subtitle. The provisions of this subdivision shall not apply when a person serves or provides alcoholic beverages to a guest occupying the residence as the lessee of a short-term rental, as that term is defined in § 15.2-983, regardless of whether the person who permanently resides in the residence is present during the short-term rental.
8. Any person who manufactures and sells cider to distillery licensees, or any person who manufactures wine from grapes grown by such person and sells it to winery licensees.
9. The sale of wine and beer in or through canteens or post exchanges on United States reservations when permitted by the proper authority of the United States.
10. The keeping and consumption of any lawfully acquired alcoholic beverages at a private meeting or private party limited in attendance to members and guests of a particular group, association or organization at a banquet or similar affair, or at a special event, if a banquet license has been granted. However, no banquet license shall be required for private meetings or private parties limited in attendance to the members of a common interest community as defined in § 54.1-2345 and their guests, provided (i) the alcoholic beverages shall not be sold or charged for in any way, (ii) the premises where the alcoholic beverages are consumed is limited to the common area regularly occupied and utilized for such private meetings or private parties, and (iii) such meetings or parties are not open to the public.
Code 1950, §§ 4-50, 4-89, 4-90; 1954, c. 147; 1970, cc. 113, 541; 1972, cc. 75, 76, 741; 1973, c. 413; 1975, c. 408; 1976, c. 37; 1981, c. 410; 1984, c. 200; 1992, c. 349; 1993, c. 866; 1995, cc. 497, 518; 2001, c. 117; 2006, cc. 274, 740; 2010, c. 294; 2011, c. 8; 2017, c. 741.