Seal Beach : Restaurateur May Sell Own Wine at His Eatery
A Seal Beach restaurateur who also owns a vineyard will be able to sell his own wine to dining customers under a bill signed Friday by Governor George Deukmejian.
Walter Babcock, owner of Walt’s Wharf on Main Street as well as Babcock Vineyards in Santa Barbara County, is the beneficiary of the special legislation introduced by Assemblyman Dennis Brown (R-Signal Hill).
The legislation allows Babcock, who was unavailable for comment Friday, to sidestep state prohibitions against joint ownership of vineyards and restaurants that sell alcoholic beverages, unless the restaurant is at the winery. Those prohibitions were intended to prevent a concentration of marketing power.
The bill authorizes someone who produces 20,000 gallons or less of wine a year to sell wine for consumption in a “bona fide” eating place “in Orange County which he owns, but which is located off the premises of the winery.”
Similar bills aiding other vintners have been enacted in years past.
Brown said Friday that Assemblyman Robert C. Frazee (R-Carlsbad) tried last year to gain passage of a bill that would have been applicable statewide, but the Legislature prefers to deal with the problem on a case-by-case basis.
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