Chad Casey and Jen Bonaventura stand June 8 in their barn at Bonaventura Vineyards in Hartford. The couple is renting the barn for weddings but hope to turn the space into a tasting room. Andree Kehn/Sun Journal file
HARTFORD — A tasting room at Bonaventura Vineyards moved closer to reality Tuesday when voters in this Oxford County town approved the sale and consumption of alcohol.
Residents overwhelmingly passed all five questions, allowing for the sale, consumption and for alcohol to be consumed on the premises of a license establishment seven days per week.
The town was technically “dry” because residents had never voted on the issue since the end of prohibition in 1933. The town has not had an establishment that has ever sold beer, wine or spirits.
Vineyard owners Jennifer Bonaventura and Chad Casey purchased the 86-acre property on Berry Road in 2015 and began planting grape vines. Today, the vineyard has more than 1,000 grape vines, Bonaventura said.
The couple did not learn about the potential roadblock until a year ago when they sought state and federal licenses to open a tasting room and sell its wine. The town first had to approve the sale of alcohol before they could obtain a license.
Chad Casey pulls suckers off of the base of a grapevine June 8 at Bonaventura Vineyards in Hartford. Hartford voters approved the sale of alcohol so Casey and his wife, Jen Bonaventura, could serve alcohol in a tasting room. Andree Kehn/Sun Journal file
The five questions, which each passed by approximately a 3-1 margin, were required by the state to approve to approve the sale, consumption and consuming of alcohol from Monday through Saturday, as well as separate questions for Sunday due to the state’s former blue laws.
The questions and vote totals were:
• Shall the Town of Hartford authorize the State to issue licenses for the sale of liquor to be consumed on the premises of licensed establishments on days other than Sunday? (M.R.S.A 28-A §123.1.) Yes 170, No 45;
• Shall the Town of Hartford authorize the State to issue licenses for the sale of malt liquor and wine to be consumed off the premises of licensed establishments on days other than Sunday? (M.R.S.A 28-A §123.2-A.) 168-46;
• Shall the Town of Hartford authorize the State to issue licenses for the sale of malt liquor and wine to be consumed off the premises of licensed establishments on Sundays? (M.R.S.A 28-A §123.4-A.) 156-58;
• Shall the Town of Hartford authorize the State to issue licenses for the sale of malt liquor and wine to be consumed on the premises of licensed establishments on Sunday? (M.R.S.A 28-A §123.7.) 156-59;
• Shall the Town of Hartford authorize the State to issue licenses for the sale of malt liquor and wine for consumption on the premises of licensed establishments on Sunday? (M.R.S.A 28-A §123.8.) 155-58.
Bonaventura Vineyards hopes to open its tasting room and sell its wine in a renovated barn from the 1800s on their property later this year.
Hartford residents also elected Susan Goulet as a new selectman Tuesday. Goulet received 145 votes, followed by Clarence Hill with 32 and Loando Brann with 27. Incumbent Lori Swan did not seek reelection.
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