Its that time again folks! Wine Blogger Tom Wark at Fermentation has recently announced this year’s finalists for the 2010 American Wine Blogs. Its always interesting to see which social 
media wine bloggers are giving American media a run for its juice. Is your winery’s blog amongst this year’s nominees?
Go now and cast your vote. American Wine Blog Awards
Unless you plan to spend a ton of money on legal fees defending your business 
against liquor liability claims this summer this is a good time as any, to pause and take note of a few useful tips.
As the summer approaches and the volume of customers at your establishment increases, its a good time to be vigilant and put a few best practices in place that are designed to limit your winery or restaurant’s potential liability related to the sale of alcohol at your facility.
Whether you’re serving alcohol in a tasting room, restaurant, wedding, catered event, bed and breakfast or bar, its important to remember that the person who serves the liquor is on the front line to limit your establishment’s liability and help your guests from over indulging.
Let’s review some useful tips that will help your establishment limit its potential liability as a result of alcohol service:
Check ID’s for all customers
Train your staff to recognize “visibly intoxicated persons”
Ensure that your employees do not drink on the job
Do not over-pour
Do not price alcohol too low so as to encourage heavy drinking
Do not allow self service at your event
Provide non-alcoholic beverages
Do not allow pets in the tasting room or catered event.
Purchase liquor liability insurance
As you entertain and educate your customers about your wines or your brand, you can also use these valuable customer contact opportunities to encourage your guests to drink responsibly. Your customers will appreciate the fact that when they leave your establishment, they are left with a sense of having been well cared for during their outing.
At the end of the day, you’ve kept them safe…and you’ve saved yourself some dough!
The State of New Jersey’s Division of Alcohol Bureau Control has recently announced new legislation to take effect on May 1, 2010 that in effect changes its existing law related to wine tastings. The new legislation modifies existing law regarding size, sampling, events and media advertising related to tastings. To learn more on this new statutory ruling read here: NJ Special Ruling Regarding 2010 Statutory Change To Tasting Law.
While many state activists and legislators are engaged in long-standing legislative dog fights to privatize wine distribution, I found this article to pose an interesting question as to whether or not privatization of the liquor industry will necessarily yield better outcomes. For a different perspective, read after the jump Tyler Colman’s: Will the Recession Liberalize Wine Laws?
