BC Minister confirms BYOB legislation changes afoot

Rich Coleman speaking on CKNW with host Sean Leslie says BYOW rules under review

Rich Coleman
Rich Coleman
British Columbia restaurant patrons might see new rules that will allow them to bring their own wine within two months. Minister Rich Coleman stated that a review has been underway for "about two months" and that an announcement could be imminent within "thirty to sixty days". Of course the Minister did not commit to changes yet, and only said that his Ministry was looking at the current legislation.

The interview took place Sunday afternoon on CKNW's World Today Weekend program with host Sean Leslie. Earlier that day BC Wine Lover was invited to speak on Public Eye Radio (CFAX 1070 Victoria) with host Sean Holman. You can listen to the entire ten minute segment here:

The pace of change in liquor laws in BC is unprecedented. There are a combination of factors in play, but social media is one of the tools that has turned up the volume on the discussion. As we reported earlier, the #BCWineChat discussion only last Wednesday managed to push the Bring Your Own Wine idea into the headlines.

Tim Pawsey's take on BYOW

One of our favourite wine writers is Tim Pawsey, aka Hired Belly. Tim reflected in his latest column on the BYOW hype:

A few years ago I found myself in Melbourne, widely regarded as one of Australia's best dining cities, with a free evening. Somebody had suggested checking out a small Thai fusion spot that sounded good, adding that I could pick up some wine at a bottle shop on the corner of the same block. I did just that, had an excellent meal and took half a bottle home, all of which struck me as being incredibly civilized and normal. And absolutely illegal to do back home in B.C.

Well, we've made some progress. At least we're allowed to take a half finished bottle away from a restaurant now. But it's still against the law to BYOB in B.C.

But maybe not for long. If you're a Tweep you might know (you should know) about #BCWineChat, the weekly Wednesday evening discussion (started by uber tweeter Tinhorn Creek winemaker Sandra Oldfield) that revolves around, well, what else but wine. Sometimes the discussions are happily geekish (but always informative) and occasionally they touch a nerve.

Last week's topic, tagged #BYOB4BC, unleashed a tidal wave of 140 character opinions, leaving no doubt that, once again, B.C. liquor laws are stuck in the last century on this issue. And that most in the community of winemakers and tasters think it's high time that we on the wet coast caught up with the likes of Quebec and Alberta (not to mention Australia, the U.K. and elsewhere) and be allowed to bring our own bottles to restaurants – who would charge corkage for the privilege. In fact for a while it trended (the most talked about Vancouver topic on Twitter).

Interviewing Ian Tostenson, Tim shares two interesting points made by the restaurant industry rep:

  1. BYO makes sense for visitors from places such as California, where bringing your own bottle is often the norm, and they find it strange they can't do the same here.
  2. BYO could ease the burden considerably for some smaller restaurants who really don't want to be bothered with maintaining a extensive cellar and wine list.

It's a fast-moving topic, and we'll of course continue to pay close attention to it here at BC Wine Lover.

– post by Mike