This story was updated at 1:35 p.m. on Aug. 6, 2012.

The Montgomery County Board of License Commissioners voted unanimously Aug. 2 to allow Shalom Kosher Market to sell kosher wines at its new location in Kemp Mill after reaching an agreement with neighbor Kemp Mill Beer & Wine Aug. 1.

As part of the agreement, Shalom — a strictly kosher supermarket — will not sell beer as long as Kemp Mill Beer & Wine is in the shopping center, and the latter would not increase its kosher wine selection, said Larry Dekelbaum, the owner of Shalom Kosher.

“It’s a good thing for our business,” Dekelbaum said. “There’s a very large demand out there for kosher wine.”

When the board did not originally reach a unanimous vote, Shalom asked them to reconsider their decision, said Kathryn Lloyd, the assistant county attorney that represents the liquor board. A number of residents attended the first hearing saying they already had Kemp Mill Beer & Wine, said Lloyd, but once the agreement was reached, the board understood that the two stores would be “selling different products.”

Kemp Mill Beer & Wine did not immediately reply to requests for comment.

Shalom, which is on University Boulevard in Wheaton, sells about 150 different types of kosher wines from places like California, France, Israel, New York and Spain.

For the wine to be kosher, it must be made under the supervision of a rabbi and made with rabbinically certified equipment. Kosher wine also follows Jewish dietary laws and is made from kosher ingredients.

Dekelbaum said he hopes to expand to more high-end wines at the new location in Kemp Mill Shopping Center, in the space of Magruder’s Supermarket, which closed in July. He hopes Shalom will be open for business by the start of September.

krose@gazette.net