Virginians will be able to purchase spirits and low alcoholic beverage coolers from the comfort of their homes under a bill that passed the Senate 40-0 Wednesday.
SB 824, introduced by Sen. Frank M. Ruff, R-Clarksville, would permit the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority to include provisions in agency agreements with licensed distillers, allowing certain alcoholic beverages to be purchased on the Internet. The specified beverages would be shipped to consumers for personal consumption.
“Senator Ruff is one of our most technologically advanced members, so he wanted to allow internet ordering and sales from distilleries,” Sen. T. Montgomery Mason, D-Williamsburg said during the Rehabilitation and Social Services committee Jan. 31. “The committee agreed favorably on a 4-0 vote that we should allow this to be done, just like wine is done today.”
Currently, any winery, brewery or retailer who holds a Virginia ABC shipper’s license can sell and ship up to two cases of wine or two cases of beer to a consumer’s home per month, according to Virginia ABC.
