Apply for a wine boutique endorsement

A wine boutique is a winery retail store that is located inside the shopping area of a grocery store that holds a beer and cider grocery store licence. 

A winery that has an off-site winery retail store licence may apply for a wine boutique endorsement. This lets the winery sell VQA wine made by another winery, in addition to its own. The other winery can’t already have more than two off-site winery retail store licences. 

To be eligible for a wine boutique endorsement, you must: 

• be a winery with a valid winery manufacturer’s licence and have at least three offsite winery retail store licences 
• entered into a wine boutique agreement with a grocery store that has a beer and cider grocery store licence and a wine boutique sales agent endorsement, where: 
  • you agree to lease or license space in the shopping area of the grocery store to sell wine 
  • the grocery store operator agrees to sell, as agent of the winery, wine that is available for sale to the public in the leased space 
  • the initial lease terms or licence are at least three years 
     

Additionally:  

• the wine boutique area must be distinct from the grocery store  
• the name of the wine boutique must be clearly displayed in the boutique and must be distinct from the name of the grocery store 

You must begin to offer the wine for sale to the public within 12 months after being issued the endorsement. It must continue to offer the wine for sale in the boutique thereafter. 

 To apply for a wine boutique endorsement you must use the iAGCO portal. 

1. Log in to your iAGCO account. 
2. Under Existing Licences/Permits/Authorizations/Registrations click on the Add a Secondary link.  
3. Choose Wine Boutique Endorsement from the list Click Next.  
4. Go through the rest of the screens. Answer all the questions. Submit the documents the application asks for (if any). 

Apply for an endorsement now

Once you’ve submitted your application, the AGCO will review your application. The AGCO may ask you for more information if we need to.  

Once you’ve been approved for a wine boutique endorsement, you need to run the wine boutique within your grocery store in the right way.  

As a licensee, you are responsible for meeting all Registrar’s Standards that apply to your licence or authorization, all applicable laws and regulations, and any Terms and Conditions that may be applied to your licence.  

Make sure you understand all your responsibilities as a licensee. Read the resources available to help you better understand how to stay in compliance.