Corkage Free Zone

January 20, 2011
YAKIMA, Wash. — Lauded as a creative promotion for restaurants and the wine industry, Yakima’s Corkage Free Zone was shut down last fall by the state Liquor Control Board.
But a series of moves under way this week in Olympia could restore the program in which downtown restaurants impose no charge to open and serve wine that customers have purchased from wineries and wine shops.
Lawmakers in the House and Senate say they expect to introduce bills today to ensure the so-called corkage fee can be waived. But the need for legislation may be made moot by a compromise announced late Friday between the liquor board and advocates of the program in Yakima and a similar one in Spokane.
Copies of the board’s plan could be mailed out to advocates of corkage programs as early as today.
“I think we can find a way to allow this,” said board deputy director Rick Garza.
Programs in both cities ran afoul of the board in November when it issued cease-and-desist letters, contending the programs were unlawful because restaurants offered the free corkage service only for wines from select wineries or wine stores.
“When we looked at this program and what was going on, it looked like it was for only certain wineries and restaurants,” Garza said. “We want any winery or restaurant to be able to take part in the program.”
Garza said the board expects to draft language that would make it clear that “any winery or any restaurant would be able to participate.”
The memo from the liquor board will be sent out to the wineries association both in Yakima and Spokane, where programs had been developed, Garza said.
Meanwhile, Rep. Charles Ross, R-Naches, Rep. David Taylor, R-Moxee, and several other House members expect to introduce a bill that would allow licensed restaurants and wineries to make agreements to waive corkage fees.
Ross said he learned of the issue while dining at Santiago’s in downtown Yakima several weeks ago. He said it’s important to support a program that helps restaurants bring in business, especially during a tough economy.
“I never heard anyone complain about it,” he said. “To me, this is an example of the state (law) being irrational.”
A companion bill will also be introduced in the Senate to speed up the process.
“It’s typical — rather than being helpful — of how restrictive state government can be even when programs are viable,” said Sen. Curtis King, R-Yakima, a sponsor of the Senate bill. “We’re more worried about being fair to wines from California than about wines that are made in the state of Washington.”
Sen. Jim Honeyford, R-Sunnyside, a sponsor of the Senate bill, thinks many of the Liquor Board’s rules are arcane and need to be changed.

Problems for Yakima’s program began in November, when the Spokane Winery Association, a group of 17 wineries, looked to develop a similar promotion with nearby restaurants.
But when a Liquor Board inspector told the association the program was illegal, association president Mike Conway, owner and winemaker of Latah Creek Wine Cellars, told the inspector about Yakima’s program.
That prompted the cease-and-desist letters. The state agency contended that by not charging corkage fees for certain locally purchased wines, the restaurants were creating exclusive agreements with those wineries, which is illegal under the current law.
Liquor laws also prohibit wineries or restaurants from giving away anything of value to customers. With corkage fees costing up to $25 per bottle, it is considered an item of value, Garza said.
That doesn’t sit well with Jar Arcand, owner of Santiago’s.
Arcand began waiving corkage fees for locally purchased wines two years ago and was one of the developers of the Corkage Free Zone program, which launched in September 2009 with a half-dozen wineries and 14 restaurants.
While the program started downtown, Arcand began waiving corkage fees for any bottle of wine purchased within the region.
Arcand said that during the peak summer months, several diners took advantage of the offer each day in his restaurant.
“It just added more excitement to wine tasting in Yakima,” he said.
In addition, the program helps bring positive exposure to downtown Yakima and its restaurants and wineries, said John Cooper, CEO of the Yakima Valley Visitors and Convention Bureau.
“Those kind of partnerships, in this business climate, are vitally important for any business success,” he said. “We, as an organization, are encouraging our members to put pieces together to make it more inviting and enticing to the consumer.”
The Washington Wine Institute, the lobbying arm of the state wine industry, believes the issue wasn’t the law, but the Liquor Board’s interpretation of it.
It’s legal because it was voluntary among restaurants and wineries, said Marty Clubb, institute president and owner of L’Ecole 41 near Walla Walla.
The issue had been a dilemma for the Liquor Board, Garza said.
“We know and can’t dispute the fact it’s a great opportunity for Yakima wineries and retailers to benefit,” he said.
Arcand said he hopes getting the program legalized will not only benefit Yakima restaurants, but encourage others, such as the Spokane Winery Association, to create similar programs.
“I would love to see the whole state of Washington do this,” he said. “I think it would be cool.”

Source: http://www.yakima-herald.com/stories/2011/01/16/corkage-free-zone-in-downtown-yakima-could-return-soon

This wine shop in Manila Philippines makes wine shopping a really rewarding and exciting exercise. Wine shops in Pampanga should always have an element of surprise so that customers and wine lovers can enjoy a little bit of thrill when they go to a wine shop in Manila to look for a good bottle of wine in Clark Pampanga.

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Bldg 6460 Clark Observatory Building
Manuel A. Roxas Highway corner A Bonifacio Ave,
Angeles Clark Freeport Zone, Pampanga 2023
0922-870-5173 0917-826-8790 (ask for Ana Fe)

Wine@Yats-International.com

YATS Wine Cellars
Manila Sales Office
3003C East Tower, Phil Stock Exchange Center,
Exchange Rd Ortigas Metro Manila, Philippines 1605
(632) 637-5019 0917-520-4393 ask for Rea or Chay