A. 1. Unless exempted pursuant to subsection B, no retail license for the sale of alcoholic beverages shall be granted to any (i) manufacturer, bottler, or wholesaler of alcoholic beverages, whether licensed in the Commonwealth or not; (ii) officer or director of any such manufacturer, bottler, or wholesaler; (iii) partnership or corporation, where any partner or stockholder is an officer or director of any such manufacturer, bottler, or wholesaler; (iv) corporation which is a subsidiary of a corporation which owns or has interest in another subsidiary corporation which is a manufacturer, bottler, or wholesaler of alcoholic beverages; or (v) manufacturer, bottler, or wholesaler of alcoholic beverages who has a financial interest in a corporation which has a retail license as a result of a holding company, which owns or has an interest in such manufacturer, bottler, or wholesaler of alcoholic beverages. Nor shall such licenses be granted in any instances where such manufacturer, bottler, or wholesaler and such retailer are under common control, by stock ownership or otherwise.

Terms Used In Virginia Code 4.1-215

  • 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
  • Board: means the Board of Directors of the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority. See Virginia Code 4.1-100
  • Club: means any private nonprofit corporation or association which is the owner, lessee, or occupant of an establishment operated solely for a national, social, patriotic, political, athletic, or other like purpose, but not for pecuniary gain, the advantages of which belong to all of the members. See Virginia Code 4.1-100
  • Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
  • Establishment: means any place where alcoholic beverages of one or more varieties are lawfully manufactured, sold, or used. See Virginia Code 4.1-100
  • farm: means any person that obtains at least 51 percent of its annual gross income from agricultural operations and produces the agricultural waste used as feedstock for the waste-to-energy technology, (ii) "agricultural waste" means biomass waste materials capable of decomposition that are produced from the raising of plants and animals during agricultural operations, including animal manures, bedding, plant stalks, hulls, and vegetable matter, and (iii) "waste-to-energy technology" means any technology, including but not limited to a methane digester, that converts agricultural waste into gas, steam, or heat that is used to generate electricity on-site. See Virginia Code 1-222.1
  • 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
  • Licensed: means the holding of a valid license granted by the Authority. See Virginia Code 4.1-100
  • Licensee: means any person to whom a license has been granted by the Authority. See Virginia Code 4.1-100
  • Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
  • Person: includes any individual, corporation, partnership, association, cooperative, limited liability company, trust, joint venture, government, political subdivision, or any other legal or commercial entity and any successor, representative, agent, agency, or instrumentality thereof. See Virginia Code 1-230
  • Restaurant: means , for a wine and beer license or a limited mixed beverage restaurant license, any establishment provided with special space and accommodation, where, in consideration of payment, meals or other foods prepared on the premises are regularly sold. See Virginia Code 4.1-100
  • sell: includes soliciting or receiving an order for; keeping, offering or exposing for sale; peddling, exchanging or bartering; or delivering otherwise than gratuitously, by any means, alcoholic beverages. 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
  • Spirits: means any beverage that contains alcohol obtained by distillation mixed with drinkable water and other substances, in solution, and includes, among other things, brandy, rum, whiskey, and gin, or any one or more of the last four named ingredients, but shall not include any such liquors completely denatured in accordance with formulas approved by the United States government. See Virginia Code 4.1-100
  • 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

2. Notwithstanding any other provision of this subtitle, a manufacturer of wine or malt beverages, or two or more of such manufacturers together, whether licensed in the Commonwealth or not, may obtain a banquet license as provided in § 4.1-206.3 upon application to the Board, provided that the event for which a banquet license is obtained is (i) at a place approved by the Board and (ii) conducted for the purposes of featuring and educating the consuming public about wine or malt beverage products. Such manufacturer shall be limited to eight banquet licenses, whether or not jointly obtained, for such events per year without regard to the number of wineries or breweries owned or operated by such manufacturer or by any parent, subsidiary, or company under common control with such manufacturer. Where the event occurs on no more than three consecutive days, a manufacturer need only obtain one such license for the event.

3. Notwithstanding any other provision of this subtitle, a manufacturer of distilled spirits, whether licensed in the Commonwealth or not, may obtain a banquet license for a special event as provided in subdivision D 1 b of § 4.1-206.3 upon application to the Board, provided that such event is (i) at a place approved by the Board and (ii) conducted for the purposes of featuring and educating the consuming public about the manufacturer’s spirits products. Such manufacturer shall be limited to no more than eight banquet licenses for such special events per year. Where the event occurs on no more than three consecutive days, a manufacturer need only obtain one such license for the event. Such banquet license shall authorize the manufacturer to sell or give samples of spirits to any person to whom alcoholic beverages may be lawfully sold in designated areas at the special event, provided that (a) no single sample shall exceed one-half ounce per spirits product offered, unless served as a mixed beverage, in which case a single sample may contain up to one and one-half ounces of spirits, and (b) no more than three ounces of spirits may be offered to any patron per day. Nothing in this paragraph shall prohibit such manufacturer from serving such samples as part of a mixed beverage.

B. This section shall not apply to:

1. Corporations operating dining cars, buffet cars, club cars, or boats;

2. Brewery, distillery, or winery licensees engaging in conduct authorized by subdivision A 5 of § 4.1-201;

3. Farm winery licensees engaging in conduct authorized by subdivision 6 of § 4.1-206.1;

4. Manufacturers, bottlers, or wholesalers of alcoholic beverages who do not (i) sell or otherwise furnish, directly or indirectly, alcoholic beverages or other merchandise to persons holding a retail license or banquet license as described in subsection A and (ii) require, by agreement or otherwise, such person to exclude from sale at his establishment alcoholic beverages of other manufacturers, bottlers, or wholesalers;

5. Wineries, farm wineries, or breweries engaging in conduct authorized by subsection F of § 4.1-206.3 or § 4.1-209.1 or 4.1-212.1; or

6. One out-of-state winery, not under common control or ownership with any other winery, that is under common ownership or control with one restaurant licensed to sell wine at retail in Virginia, so long as any wine produced by that winery is purchased from a Virginia wholesale wine licensee by the restaurant before it is offered for sale to consumers.

C. The General Assembly finds that it is necessary and proper to require a separation between manufacturing interests, wholesale interests, and retail interests in the production and distribution of alcoholic beverages in order to prevent suppliers from dominating local markets through vertical integration and to prevent excessive sales of alcoholic beverages caused by overly aggressive marketing techniques. The exceptions established by this section to the general prohibition against tied interests shall be limited to their express terms so as not to undermine the general prohibition and shall therefore be construed accordingly.

Code 1950, § 4-32; 1978, c. 108; 1982, c. 66; 1984, c. 68, § 4-32.1; 1993, c. 866; 1995, cc. 456, 630; 2003, cc. 1029, 1030; 2005, c. 784; 2007, cc. 99, 799; 2013, cc. 266, 604; 2015, c. 604; 2016, cc. 132, 141; 2017, c. 159; 2018, c. 734; 2020, cc. 1113, 1114.

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