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Virginia Legislators Graciously Consider Lifting 70-Year Ban on Sangria

Friday, January 25th, 2008

Fresh off saving the Old Dominion from the scourge of frozen beer on a stick last summer, Virginia’s Alcohol Beverage Control is now taking aim at Spanish and Latin restaurants that serve sangria, because the red wine and brandy in the drink violates a 70-year-old, post-Prohibition law forbidding the mix of wine and spirits. A bartender at a tapas restaurant right down the road from me is looking at a year in jail for serving the drink.

Legislators are considering amending the law, but only to allow sangria. Other drinks mixing wine, beer, and/or spirits would still be verboten.

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This entry was posted on Friday, January 25th, 2008 at 1:46 pm by Radley Balko and is filed under Alcohol. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

9 Responses to “Virginia Legislators Graciously Consider Lifting 70-Year Ban on Sangria”

  1. #1 |  Ochressandro |  January 25th, 2008 at 1:59 pm

    What, no boilermakers in Virginia? HERESY!

  2. #2 |  Nando |  January 25th, 2008 at 2:58 pm

    Stupid laws based on outdated “morals.”

  3. #3 |  ZappaCrappa |  January 25th, 2008 at 4:27 pm

    Its also illegal in VA to have sex with your sister/brother/mother/father…but obviously someone in the VA legislature has been breaking that law often…maybe more than one.

  4. #4 |  ZappaCrappa |  January 25th, 2008 at 4:30 pm

    My mistake…the above should read that they are the byproduct of such an illegal union. My apologies for any confusion…

  5. #5 |  Heartless Libertarian |  January 25th, 2008 at 5:27 pm

    Sangria doesn’t necessarily require brandy, although some recipes do use it. Sangria recipes in Spain are like Uncle Jim’s chili recipe in Texas…family secrets.

    And a boilermaker is beer and whiskey, not wine. Does the law prohibit mixing beer and spirits as well? How about beer and wine? (A black velvet is Guinness and champagne.)

  6. #6 |  Waste |  January 25th, 2008 at 5:44 pm

    Guess I’m heading to VA any time soon. Only wine I drink is Port. Which would be illegal under this law.

  7. #7 |  z |  January 25th, 2008 at 9:25 pm

    I’m pretty sure I can get Port wine at any grocery store, wine shop, and restaurant in VA, as well as the state run liquor stores. Port is a mixture of wine and either cognac or brandy, clearly a violation.

  8. #8 |  Michael |  January 26th, 2008 at 7:41 am

    Is there any question that the a nanny state and police state are result in such laws? I thought alcohol prohibition ended years ago! The law makes as much sense as Mr Anslinger did in his antics in the 1930′s!

  9. #9 |  Mike |  January 26th, 2008 at 8:34 pm

    No Irish Car Bombs? InconCIEVable!

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