IT’S OFFICIAL: EATALY’S NEW YORK WINE SHOP ALCOHOL LICENSE SUSPENDED FOR SIX MONTHS BECAUSE A STATE LAW DOES NOT ALLOW A WINE PRODUCER (THE FAMILY BASTIANICH, IN PARTNERSHIP WITH FARINETTI AND BATALI) TO OWN SHOPS AND LICENSES TO SELL ALCOHOL

It is now official: the New York State Liquor Authority has suspended Eataly New York’s wine shop license to sell wine and spirits, for six months. The property managers, Lidia and Joe Bastianich, chef Mario Batali, and of course Eataly founder Oscar Farinetti, will also have to pay a heavy US$500.000 fine and remove Lidia’s name from the store’s liquor license.

The reason for this decision is a "conflict of interest". The State of New York law, which dates back to the days of Prohibition, prohibits wine producers to have licenses and shops for the sale of alcohol. And it is well known that the Bastianich family owns vineyards and wineries in Italy, particularly in Collio, Friuli Venezia Giulia and the Maremma area.

The famous American magazine "WineSpectator", reported the news and Joe Bastianich commented: “We have cooperated with the authorities for more than a year; it is regrettable, but we have accepted the decision and are looking to the future. In six months we will find a way to reopen and everything will go on as before”. This is a big no for a store that has become, in just a few years, the reference point for lovers of Italian wine in the Big Apple, right next door to the temple of Made in Italy taste, Eataly New York. A few months after the grand opening in 2010 the wine shop was selling, as the managers told WineNews, 350 to 500 bottles a day, for a turnover of 250-300.000 US dollars a week, and since then it has been constantly growing. In short, a successful phenomenon has been restrained by what in Italy is called Italian bureaucracy that this time has struck in the land of the free market and the "American dream".