Archive for the ‘Shipping Wine’ Category

Jan 13, 2006

IL Liquor Commission Attorney sees NO PROBLEM of Wine Sales To Minors

Bill O’Donaghue’s job is simple. Don’t spin. Don’t campaign. Don’t Distort. Just give straightforward legal advice to the Illinois Illinois State Liquor Control Commission. That straightforwardness apparently applies to interviews also. The Illinois Liquor Control Commission is charged with overseeing the application and regulation process of alcoholic beverages in Illinois. You’ll be in contact with them if you want to make or sell alcohol in Illinois. And if you break the rules, you’ll likely have an encounter with them. There…

Jan 12, 2006

IL Wine Distributors, Politicians and the Amazing Talking Butt

"There’s no record (of underage mail-order sales) because there’s no enforcement" in the mail-order market. "But we know it happens. Anyone can go on-line and order it . . . and get next-day delivery."BILL OLSEN, VP Associated Beer Distributors of Ohio."I’ve never looked into it and I can’t give you facts and figures, but we know minors are buying wine on the Internet."TERRY LINK, Rep. Illinois Legislature and Sponsor of HB3450 And so this is what it has come to….

Jan 10, 2006

Will CA Wineries Support their Loyal Customers?

Illinois is one of the most important sources of customers for California’s wineries. And they are about to lose that state as direct shipping market. Illinois had always been one of those states whose residents could receive direct shipments from California wineries. Even when there were no more than 12 or 13 states that allowed unfettered shipments, Illinois was there, with all those well heeled customers in Chicago and the surrounding suburbs who were willing to buy direct. As a…

Jan 10, 2006

California Wine Gods Proven Wrong

California changed its direct shipping rules last year following the Supreme Court’s Granholm v Heald decision calling NY and MI’s discrimination of out-of-state wineries unconstitutional. The reason the change to California’s shipping laws became necessary was not because they discriminated against out-of-state wineries a la NY and MI. Rather, it was due to a comment in the decision written by Justice Kennedy that the "Reciprocity" framework that California and other states worked under was in all likelihood unconstitutional itself. (Reciprocity…

Jan 9, 2006

The Wine Gangsters of Illinois

You see it in movies and read about it in history books. Tommy gun-totting gangsters break into the warehouse of an up and coming entrepreneur who wants to make a business selling out of state whiskey to the local speakeasies and friends. However, that territory is already controlled by the heavy hitting gangsters, the ones with the big guns. They won’t tolerate any competition and are willing to put out the lights of anyone willing to set up shop. It’s…