Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
Proponents of increasing the State of Oregon’s alcohol taxes in a comically excessive way are becoming more creative and more faithless in their arguments for increasing the state taxes in an effort to fight alcohol dependency. As a reminder, earlier in the year Oregon State Representatives Tawna Sanchez sponsored House Bill 3296. If passed, the bill would have increased the excise taxes on beer and cider in Oregon from $2.60 per barrel (31 gallons) to $72.60 per barrel. The increase…
On Tuesday, March 2nd, we will finally have the opportunity to hear someone give a justification for why Tennessee ought to pass a law (HB 742) that would result in 60% of all wine shipments from out-of-state wineries being shut down. That Tuesday there will be a hearing in the Department and Agencies Subcommittee on the bill that, if passed, would ban any shipments from out-of-state wineries that use fulfillment houses. Personally, I’m looking forward to hearing the justifications for…
I’ve been a member of the Facebook community since 2007. Since that time, every client I’ve worked with has also been a member of Facebook. I’ve made sure of it. In fact, it’s hard to imagine why a wine industry firm would not be a member of this gigantic community where targeted messaging and branding can be done in a nearly unprecedented manner. Yet, today, looking at the actions and power of Facebook, I can’t say I would recommend joining…
What do you call a prostitute working in Washington, DC? . . . A Lobbyist. What happens when a lobbyist and a congressperson have sex? . . . The taxpayers get screwed. Lobbyists are viewed very similarly to lawyers. Everyone hates them, jokes about them and condemns them just up until the moment they need one. Well, if you are in the wine business (or the alcohol business for that matter) then today you ought to set aside your disdain…
No one knows the future, so it’s impossible to say what will result as a consequence of 2020. However, we can look back. In doing so, it’s neither historically reckless nor an improbable conceit to suggest that 2020 is the most consequential year of the past 10 decades. How, I wonder, will the wine industry be remembered when the incalculable chronicles and novels and histories of this moment are composed? Consider first the milieu. The greatest pandemic to hit America’s…
