Business

Vineyard 48 hearing set for Wednesday; liquor license remains revoked

Vineyard 48 will not be able to sell alcohol through the weekend after the New York State Liquor Authority revoked its liquor license on Thursday. A hearing on the company’s argument to have it restored will take place before an administrative law judge on Wednesday in Mineola, according to State Liquor Authority spokesman Bill Crowley.

The exact time and location were not immediately available.

“The judge ordered the SLA to have a full hearing to determine if the suspension is permanent,” Southold Supervisor Scott Russell said in an email to The Suffolk Times.

The announcement that the liquor license had been revoked for the controversial Cutchogue winery came after Southold Town police were called Saturday and found an estimated “400 disorderly, heavily intoxicated patrons were pushing, shoving and screaming at one another,” according to the SLA. A fight ensued, involving 15 to 20 people.

Officers originally responded Saturday after 911 calls from a neighbor who complained of two people engaging in sex acts in view of their backyard that borders the winery.

Peter Sullivan, the attorney for Vineyard 48, which is owned by Joseph Paul Winery Inc., said that the SLA suspension order “doesn’t contain a single fact that’s new.”

“The media releases contain facts that are new, because media releases don’t have to be verified with evidence,” he said. “We will demonstrate that the allegations are not true, like we’ve done before.”

Mr. Sullivan did not immediately return a request for comment Friday.

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