Feb 27, 2008
Let me see if I have this right… On the one hand, wine retailers across the United States are telling alcohol regulators in every state that they’d like to enhance their operating budgets by paying an annual fee to ship wine to consumers in those states. They’d like to help fill their state’s coffers with funds resulting from the remittance of taxes on the wine they sell and ship to consumers in their state. These retailers would like to voluntarily…
Feb 6, 2008
The recent 9th Circuit Court of Appeals decision in the important wine-related case of Costco v. Hoen is a disappointment to many in the industry who believe that that the state violates the law when it promotes anti-competitive regulations that hurt the consumer and benefit a small group. Yet this issue is a very difficult one to wrap your arms around. It’s very complex and deals with an area of the law (Anti-Trust Issues) that few people are familiar enough…
Feb 5, 2008
Let’s go into the heart of darkness. Let’s examine the center of cynicism in the world of wine: "It is cynical to say you support people just because of the power shift," he said. "But clearly when the power in Congress changes, there is a tendency to support those who wield authority."-CRAIG WOLF, CEO, Wine & Spirit Wholesalers Association This is Mr. Wolf’s commentary on the fact that his organization has "decided to shift his group’s donations so that two-thirds…
Jan 30, 2008
"most Americans were satisfied with the system as it is except for a small, very vocal segment who say they can’t get their bottle of 1997 whatever.” Count me in as part of that small, vocal segment of folks who really do love the "1997 Whatever". What a great wine that was, huh! I’d loved it’s fruity component of So What. And who can forget that wine’s firm and crisp Too Bad. And the wine was legendary for it’s long,…
Jan 17, 2008
Here’s the good news…the REALLY good news: A Texas judge has declared that a state may not discriminate against out-of-state retailers. This means, if a state let’s its own retailers ship inside its state, it must allow out of state retailers to ship into their state. The fact that this issue even had to be litigated in the first place should give you an idea of how screwed up American wine laws are. After all, the 2005 Granholm v. Heald…