Bring Your Own Wine to Virginia Restaurants

In February, 2011, the Virginia House of Delegates passed Senate Bill 1292, which allows the Commonwealth's residents to bring a bottle of wine to restaurants in Virginia. Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell signed the bill, so Virginians have been able to BYOW since July 1st.

The bill allows Virginian restaurants to charge customers a "corkage fee" – a service charge that usually ranges from $10 to $75, though it doesn't require them to do so. The legislation states that restaurants are only permitted to allow the consumption of "lawfully acquired wine by bona fide customers".

Make it La Grange wine

We may be a little partial but we feel La Grange wine would be great with any meal! We think taking a Virginia wine to a Virginia restaurant is such a great idea that we'll help pay the corkage fee. After you enjoy a bottle of Virginia wine at your favorite restaurant, bring proof of payment to the winery and we'll pay you 50% of the corkage fee.

Restaurants that offer BYOW

We want to encourage restaurants to adopt the BYOW policy and support those in the program. Participating restaurants are listed below, with their corkage policy. Please help; Tell us of any restaurant missing from the list.

Restaurant	Location	Phone Number
Outback Steakhouse	Multiple locations	Check for local
Harry's Tap Room	2800 Clarendon Blvd., Arlington	703-778-8888
Fire Works Pizza	2530 Clarendon Blvd., Arlington	703-527-8700
Fire Works Pizza	201 Harrison Street, Leesburg	703-779-8400
Tuscarora Mill	203 Harrison Street, Leesburg	703-771-9300
Blue Iguana	12727 Shoppes Lane, Fairfax	703-502-8108
Epicure Café	11213-A Lee Highway, Fairfax	703-352-9193
Fotis Restaurant	219 East Davis Street, #110, Culpepper	540-829-8400
Columbus Grill	8349 Centreville Road, Manassas	703-330-3001
La Capilla Tapas Room	9239 Main Street, Manassas	571-379-8185
Carmellos	9108 Center Street, Old Town Manassas	703-368-5522
Monza	9405 Battle Street, Old Town Manassas	703-434-3621
The Bungalow Alehouse	7380 Atlas Walk Way, Gainesville	571-261-9367
Forlano's Market	6483 Main Street, The Plains	540-253-5456

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BYOW Etiquette

It's important to remember that restaurants offer BYOW as a courtesy, so in the spirit of fostering good corkage relations, here are some etiquette tips to ensure BYOW merriment to all:

Call first.

You wouldn't bring 12 people to your eight-person reservation, so don't show up toting bottles unannounced. Let the restaurant know what wine (and how many bottles) you plan to bring. That way, they can be prepared with necessary glassware as well as an alternative in the event that your wine is flawed. This will also address a restaurant's policy of not extending corkage to wines they carry.

Find out the corkage fee in advance.

Since the service and the fee are at each restaurant's discretion, find out the cost ahead of time. The range in our area is $15-35 with a $20 average, but the legal maximum is $75. You wouldn't want to find yourself in an argument after a lovely meal.

Don't forget the sommelier.

Sommeliers take pride in their wine lists and since you've snubbed their choices in lieu of your own, offering a taste of your special wine shows respect and fellowship. Winos love to geek out over collectible gems, so even if your sommelier declines, the gesture will be appreciated.

Bring one, buy one.

Don't abuse the BYOW privilege - limit yourself to two bottles and for every bottle you bring, buy one from the restaurant. Abiding by this unwritten rule of good taste may even mean that your corkage fee gets waived.