Block · one region of the page, as the scanner read it. It may hold a whole story, part of one, several, or an advertisement; stitching blocks into articles is the next step. Text is supplied OCR.
Page 2 · column 1 of 7 · from the scan, no model involved
IJV&evin Allen
Rappahannock News Staff Writer
If Cfiris Saxman has his way, Virginia’s small farm wineries will once again be able to sell their wares directly to restaurants and retailers without having to hire a distributor.
The Republican delegate from Staunton and Sen. John Watkins, R-Midlothian, are spearheading a legislative effort that would allow both in-state and out-of-state wineries to selfdistribute up to 3,000 cases of wine per year in Virginia.
More than half of Virginia’s wineries produce fewer than 2,500 cases of wine per year, according to the Virginia Wineries Association.
The 1980 Virginia Farm Wineries Act gave commonwealth wineries the right to sell their products directly to local stores and restaurants. The practice allowed vintners to cut out middle men.
The number of wineries in the commonwealth has increased from three in 1971 to more than 100 today, and many vintners credit the Farm Wineries Act with fostering that growth.
But the self-distribution privilege was dealt a fatal blow in 2005, when the U.S. District Court in Richmond declared the law unconstitutional. The decision said the self-distribution law gave preferential treatment to in-state wineries, because out-of-state wineries were not allowed to sell directly to retailers in the commonwealth.
Saxman proposed a similar self-distribution bill in the 2005
89.8%