Each winery which enters into an agreement with a wine wholesaler shall designate a sales territory as the primary area of responsibility of that wholesaler which is applicable to the agreement. No winery shall enter into any agreement with more than one wholesaler for the purpose of establishing more than one agreement for its brands of wine in any territory. However, the existence of more than one such agreement as a result of a sale of a winery as contemplated by § 4.1-405 shall not be prohibited. Notwithstanding any other provision in this chapter, a winery may enter into agreements with more than one wholesaler in a sales territory for new brands which are not clearly extensions of existing brands. Territories served by a wine wholesaler on February 18, 1989, shall be deemed designated sales territories within the meaning of this section. Each winery shall notify the Board in writing of all designations of sales territories, the identity of the wholesaler appointed to serve such territory and a statement of any variations which exist in the designated territory in regard to a particular brand. Redesignations shall be reported to the Board within 30 days.

Terms Used In Virginia Code 4.1-404

  • Agreement: means a commercial relationship, not required to be evidenced in writing, of definite or indefinite duration, between a winery and wine wholesaler pursuant to which the wholesaler has been authorized to distribute one or more of the winery's brands of wine. See Virginia Code 4.1-401
  • Board: means the Board of Directors of the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority. See Virginia Code 4.1-100
  • Brand: means any word, name, group of letters, symbol or combination thereof adopted and used by a winery to identify a specific wine product and to distinguish that product from other wine produced or marketed by that winery or other wineries. See Virginia Code 4.1-401
  • in writing: include any representation of words, letters, symbols, numbers, or figures, whether (i) printed or inscribed on a tangible medium or (ii) stored in an electronic or other medium and retrievable in a perceivable form and whether an electronic signature authorized by Chapter 42. See Virginia Code 1-257
  • sales territory: means the area of primary sales responsibility within the Commonwealth expressly or implicitly designated by any agreement between any wine wholesaler and winery for the brand or brands of any winery. See Virginia Code 4.1-401
  • 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
  • Wine wholesaler: means any wholesale wine licensee offering wine for sale or resale to retailers or other wine wholesalers without regard to whether the business of the person is conducted under the terms of an agreement with a licensed winery. See Virginia Code 4.1-401
  • Winery: means every person, including any authorized representative of such person pursuant to § 4. See Virginia Code 4.1-401

Code 1950, § 4-118.25; 1985, c. 542, § 4-118.45; 1989, c. 10; 1993, c. 866; 2018, cc. 168, 169.

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