Yesterday a Federal Court judge in Massachusetts ruled that wine wholesaler-inspired, anti-consumer, discriminatory laws that seek to protect a very tiny cabal of powerful and well monied wine wholesalers is unconstitutional. How do you like that? I do! The decision in the case of Family Winemakers of California v. Jenkins determined that a MA direct shipping law that was designed to appear even handed but was meant to exclude most out-of-state wineries from shipping into the state did not meet…

What would possess the state of Michigan, it's Attorney General and the Michigan Liquor Control Commission to embark on a vendetta against Michigan consumes? This is is exactly what they've done. Apparently the Michigan Attorney General has decided to appeal a Federal District Court decision that reiterated what everyone should have already known: It's unconstitutional to ban consumers from having wine shipped to them from out of state wine retailers while allowing it from in-state wine retailers. The appeal will…

I can’t imagine what I or what the entire wine industry would do without the Wine & Spirit Wholesalers Association (WSWA) being there to let us know when the debate over the utility of the wholesaler tier is over. Thankfully, the WSWA has announced that any debate over wine distribution in America ought to stop forever because a Texas academician has published a WSWA-FINANCED study that (incredibly) tells us that wholesalers are the best thing since buttered bread! The new…

ANYONE who doubts that foes and opponents of direct shipment of wine and free trade do not have the best interests of wine lovers or consumers at heart need only read the following comment from the wine wholesalers representative in Michigan that appeared in a Wine Spectator article: "[We] believe that between the wine brands currently approved for sale in the state and the currently 420-some wineries throughout the country that have direct-shipping permits, the consumers have tremendous variety and…