Archive for the ‘Wine Business’ Category
Washington State finds itself in the midst of a campaign for reform that is extraordinarily rare. Initiative 1000 is a ballot initiative that would wholly transform the alcohol distribution system in that state to make it more open, more reliant on free market principles, less dependent on middlemen wholesalers and one of the first states to throw overboard nearly completely the three-tier system of alcohol distribution created in the 1930s. The primary results of passage of Initiative 1100 are: 1….
I've always been a fan of that strange, under-appreciated sub-genre of Science Fiction known as Alternative History. "What if the South won the Civil War" or "What if America didn't enter WWII and Germany won WWII" are the two most classic renderings of this interesting little literary sidenook. So, it naturally got me wondering about "What Ifs" when I read the following from Joel Peterson, founder of famed Zinfandel producer Ravenswood and board member of ZAP-Zinfandel Advocates and Producers: "The…
Over the past few years, one corner of the “Culture Wars” has been dedicated to the debate over the utility of religion and whether or not faith has been beneficial to mankind. Sam Harris, Daniel Dennett, Christopher Hitchens and Richard Dawkins, all considered “New Atheists” for the new and aggressive way they have gone after religion, have been on the attack while a slew of defenders of the faith have taken up the challenged. The ongoing debate is a fascinating…
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…
Is it possible to judge a wine without ever having laid foot in the region where it was produced? I've been wondering about this really fascinating question ever since reading this comment by MW Tim Atkin, made at the opening of Fine Wine 2010 in Spain in April and published in Wine Business Monthly: "Critics who judge wines without visiting the country they come from are insane and insulting….Our interpretation of fine wine regions and grape varieties has barely evolved…
