Archive for the ‘Shipping Wine’ Category
It appears that wine wholesalers have jumped the shark where H.R. 5034 is concerned. It has been two months since America's alcohol wholesalers have attempted to radically change the rules of alcohol regulation with their introduction of H.R. 5034, the bill that would overturn the 2005 Granholm v. Heald Supreme Court decision and allow state governments to pass discriminatory legislation, stop direct shipping and write laws that need not conform with any federal laws. Why the wholesalers would want the…
The beer and wine wholesalers supporting H.R. 5034, a bill now in the House of Representatives that, if passed, would pave the way for direct shipping rights to be taken away and give wholesalers free reign to push through any number of discriminatory state laws that favor their business, have been relatively quiet in the news media about their attempt to take control of the alcohol distribution and sales industry via federal legislation. However, careful searches on the Internet do…
I was contacted recently by the owner of one of the most accomplished and successful Direct-to-Consumer wineries; a winery that has been able to secure the vast amount of their annual revenue from direct to consumer marketing and shipping. They asked me a simple question: "Why should I continue to abide by the rules and regulations of the various states that allow licensed direct to consumer shipping?" It was a legitimate question. The fact is, as long as there are…
Over the course of the past month or so I've been involved in helping generate opposition to H.R 5034, a bill promoted by alcohol wholesalers that paves the way for states to pass discriminatory legislation that would harm wineries, retailers and consumer access to wine. My involvement has been on behalf of the Specialty Wine Retailers Association, an organization of wine retailers, wine clubs and auction houses across the country that work to open more states for retailer to consumer…
The saying goes, "You dance with the one that brung ya." Applied to politics, this generally means an elected official supports the causes of those that supported him. These days, "support" means campaign contributions. But I'm not convinced that the specter of an elected official doing the bidding of his contributors is the most insidious thing about the the ethical moshpit that is the current system of campaign finance, nor do I think campaign contributions equate to support for the…
