Culinary partners Mario Batali and Lidia and Joe Bastianich are closing Eataly Wine Shop, the New York wine store located next to their Italian culinary marketplace Eataly, for six months, after reaching a settlement with the New York State Liquor Authority (SLA). The partners will also pay a $500,000 fine to the SLA and remove Lidia's name from the store's liquor license.

“We’ve been working with the SLA for most of a year," Joe Bastianich told Wine Spectator. "We find it regrettable, but we’ve accepted the settlement and we’re moving forward.”

The settlement came March 25 after lengthy talks between the partners and the state. The SLA's complaint was that the store was violating state liquor laws prohibiting licensees from owning wine stores and winemaking or importing businesses. Since 1997, Bastianich has produced wines in northeast Italy's Colli Orientali del Friuli region. SLA officials alleged that the partners lied or "suppressed information" about their wholesale and winemaking interests. The charges could have resulted in the revocation of the store's license. Originally the partners denied the allegations, but last month began discussions about a settlement.

Eataly New York opened in 2010 and has been a successful enterprise, bringing artisanal Italian food to Big Apple consumers. The market is the brainchild of Italian Oscar Farinetti, who opened the original store in Turin in 2007 and now operates more than 20 locations. In 2012, Eataly reported $416 million in sales.

Farinetti partnered with Batali and the Bastianich family for New York, the first American location, and the team opened another store in Chicago last year. New York state laws already complicated the wine aspect of Eataly's business. Wine has been an integral part of the markets, but in New York it can only be sold in dedicated wine and liquor stores. So while Manhattan's Eataly Wine Shop shares a building with the market, it is a distinct store with a separate entrance. Laws prohibiting winemakers from owning retail outlets date back to the days following Prohibition, when lawmakers wanted to prevent breweries from operating bars.

Batali & Bastianich Hospitality Group owns multiple restaurants in New York, including Wine Spectator Grand Award winner Del Posto, as well as Babbo and Esca, plus venues in Las Vegas and Los Angeles. A date for closing the Eataly Wine Shop has not been set yet, but Joe Bastianich says it will sell his wines when it reopens. “We plan to re-open the store in six months and we will be in full compliance," he said.