Bring Your Own Wine comes to B.C. restaurants

“We want to provide our restaurant industry with greater flexibility in terms of the services it can offer to its customers," Minister Rich Coleman stated in a news release. " By allowing people to bring their own bottle of wine into their favourite dining establishment, we've provided restaurant owners with a great opportunity to create a new type of dining experience that will further promote our wonderful restaurants here in British Columbia."

Enrollment of restaurants in the provincial Bring Your Own Wine program is voluntary; however, Mark von Schellwitz, vice president of Western Canada for the Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association, suggests that it will be in the best interest of many restaurants to acquire a license.

“Restaurateurs, especially those with limited wine inventories, welcome the option of allowing their guests to bring their own wine," Schellwitz stated in the news release. "This liquor policy change allows those restaurant guests who want to celebrate a special event by bringing a vintage bottle of wine from their own cellar to their favourite restaurant to do so."

Diners bringing their own bottle will be required to have the wine served in a similar manner as one selected off the restaurant’s menu. Some restaurants may also charge a corkage fee for the service. Accordingly, restaurants will continue to be liable for diners who have been over-served or if alcohol is served to minors.

The Bring Your Own Wine program does not include beer or spirits.

You can follow Michelle da Silva on Twitter at twitter.com/michdas.