May 8, 2008
The somewhat recent revelation that it is technically illegal for home winemakers in California to hold public tastings and even competitions of their wines is one of those instances where a truly out-dated law of little or no value, previously unnoticed, comes to light and makes folks chuckle, shake their heads and get on with getting rid of it for the sake bringing laws and rules into line with reality and good sense. The move to change the law licketty…
May 6, 2008
"He said: "I think the market has just tipped. All of a sudden, rather than being driven by 20-year-olds who were the early adopters [of the net], I’m starting to get emails from people saying ‘as a pensioner … The silver surfers have arrived." This comes from a news story put out by Off License News. Just how significant is this finding that older drinkers are coming to the on-line wine sales channel? I think it must be significant. Despite…
Apr 25, 2008
As executive director of Specialty Wine Retailers Association, I’ve been thinking a lot recently about who supports free and open markets in wine and who supports retailer to consumer shipping—the only channel through which consumers can actually access ALL the wines on the market today. We know consumers do. They’ve written letters to legislators, testified on direct shipping bills, and even donated $1000s of dollars to the work Specialty Wine Retailers Association is carrying out. We know newspaper editorial boards…
Apr 17, 2008
It appears that shame has fallen upon me. In response to this press release, issued two days ago on behalf of Specialty Wine Retailers Association and in conjunction with the 75th anniversary of Repeal of Prohibition, I received the following scolding: "Your press release is an absolute travesty; I wonder how the members of your organization would feel if people outside your industry considered all of the retailers the same. I’m sure your stereotyping and fear-mongering seems more than justified…
Mar 6, 2008
My daughter recently had to take a writing test mandated by the state. The format of this particular test was to have the kids write a "persuasive letter". The topic, which the kids could take either side of, was "Should schools add an additional two weeks to the annual school schedule?" I thought it outstanding that persuasive writing skills of the 7th graders were tested simply because good persuasive writing might be the most important type of writing a child…