Dec 22, 2020
The point of identifying trends is to help hedge one’s future risk. If we can predict what will come we are more likely to flourish where there is a real risk of being overrun by events. As I have for many years, here I look ahead a year to two out and attempt to articulate how current trends will impact the wine industry. In some respects, this year’s foray into predicting the future is easier than in past years. For…
Dec 16, 2020
I can’t stress enough just how unique 2020 has been. From a historical perspective, it’s arguable that this year is among the top two or three most eventful and impactful 12 months in 100 years. And keep in mind, those past 100 years included the 1929 stock market crash, the worst years of the depression, the beginning and end of World War II, the Cuban Missle Crisis, two presidential assassinations, the passage of the Civil Rights and Voting acts, 1968,…
Oct 18, 2020
It is worth noting that the pandemic-induced re-invigoration of discussion concerning alcohol regulation is a phenomenon we don’t see happening in any other industry. Whether the topic is interstate alcohol shipping, producer self-distribution or restaurant sales of drinks for takeout, this kind of increased consideration of industry reform is of a type that few if any other industries besides alcohol are having. The only plausible explanation for alcohol’s unique response to the pandemic is the fact that so much of…
May 31, 2020
When it comes to alcohol, digressing into silliness isn’t uncommon. On the one hand, the stuff can get you drunk and you can do silly, stupid things. But on the other hand, the stuff is the source of huge amounts of tax revenue, it is among the most heavily regulated substances in the country, and there are entire departments of government devoted to overseeing how alcohol is made, distributed, sold and drunk. Put that all together, mix in a little…
Apr 10, 2020
“Public health and safety”. It is the new mantra that wine and spirit wholesalers around the country are whispering into the ears of lawmakers, judges, the media and alcohol regulators. Not too many years ago, you didn’t hear wholesalers beat the drum of “health and safety” as they opposed efforts to reform a decades-old distribution system that was creaking and ossified but built to keep those alcohol wholesalers in control of just about everything. Today, “health and safety” all you…