Archive for the ‘Shipping Wine’ Category
You don’t see it pointed out much, but here’s the fact the of the matter: The wholesaler-dominated and controlled system of wine distribution in America hurts small business and hurts family businesses. A new article in Forbes by Dirk Smillie that outlines why it’s likely that 20% of all American wineries will be sold off over the next five years makes this point in a backhanded sort of way, but it’s a point worth taking not of: "The expected selloff…
Randy Hall, in response to our report that American Wine Wholesalers claim they are saving lives by making sure no tainted wine hits the shelves, answered the question I forgot to answer. Namely, How exactly do those amazing wholesalers actually check each and every bottle of wine to make sure it isn’t tainted, thereby saving countless lives? His Answer? X-RAY WINE GOGGLES!! And he’s right. Why it’s downright amazing the kind of space age technology that can be developed when…
If you ever wanted an object lesson in the "Blinders On" mentality that results when a state controls and restricts consumers’ access to wine, all you have to do is read THIS STORY in the Salt Lake City Tribune on ordering wine direct through the state run system that turned into a 5 month odyssey of frustration and surrealism. The report begins by noting that Utahans often order one of the tens of thousands of wines the Utah state system…
"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…
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…
