Archive for the ‘Wine Business’ Category
The speed with which the Age of the Mundane overtook us was breathtaking. And now here we are. Seemingly stuck in the midst of a culture that celebrates and collectively participates in the dull, boring and tiresome. It’s all of our fault, but it was the Internet and the ability for anyone to broadcast any random, simple thought to thousands or millions at a time that precipitated the current state of affairs where the mass dissemination of the most monotonous…
If you live in Michigan or know someone who lives in Michigan, if you love wine, if you believe wine lovers and wine retailers deserve fairness in commerce, if you hate when special interests screw the rest of us and if you want to help preserve all that is fine, good and beautiful in the world then continue reading: Last night the Michigan Legislature, at the behest of the state’s beer and wine wholesalers passed SB 1088. It’s a simple…
In 2015 LESS THAN on half of one percent of Napa Valley’s grape crop was sold to out-of-state wineries and home winemakers. And the vast majority of those grapes that were made into wine in another state will be sold in that state and will say right on the bottle, “Napa Valley”, “2015”. The point is that the labeling will be 100% accurate. However, the Napa Valley Vintners and the California Wine Institute are making the case that this shouldn’t…
If one were to make a list of the various chronic injustices that exist in the alcohol industry, it would be a long one. But, if you were to rank those many injustices, it seems unquestionable that the Franchise Law would top the list. Franchise Laws are supported by wholesaler across the country because it makes it nearly impossible for their suppliers to change distributors, thereby giving wholesalers all the power in the business relationship and placing suppliers at their…
As Napa grape growers replace their vines, will the composition of varieties planted in the region change to accommodate the recent broadening of tastes? This is the really interesting question that one can take away from a recent article in Wines and Vines that reports a majority of Napa growers will be replacing their vines by 2017. The cause of the replanting rush is Pierce’s Disease: “Pressure from grapevine red blotch-associated virus and Pierce’s disease is one of the main…
