Archive for the ‘Wine Business’ Category
THERE IS A WAY. In response to my recent post on Repealing the State Mandated Three Tier System, I’ve received a number of pessimistic comments and emails that essentially go like this: “But Tom, what can really be done. The wholesalers and the three-tier system are entrenched and too powerful.” The State-Mandated Three Tier System and its wholesaler supporters are indeed entrenched and quite powerful. But, there are ways to begin to undermine this system that harms wineries, retailers…
When bribes are described as “the process” and when lawmakers admit they are happily in the pockets of alcohol wholesalers, it’s clear it’s time to change something. And everyone knows it: For the majority of alcohol beverage producers, it has become abundantly clear that single most important impediment to their continued success is the existence of the State-Mandated Three-Tier System (SMTTS) in state after state across the country. The artisan wine, beer and spirit producers know that a repeal of…
I always had a pretty good feeling that the City Council in the town of Sonoma would do the right thing where the fake issue of “too many tasting rooms” around the Town Plaza was concerned. And they have. Monday the Sonoma City Council voted 4-1 to not limit the number of wine tasting rooms on and around the Sonoma Town Plaza. It was a pretty forceful display of common sense. However, the way the issue was raised, discussed, debated…
Since 2005 when the Supreme Court issued its Granholm v. Heald ruling on wine shipments and the Commerce Clause, a significant black market in wine has arisen. This black market in wine allows consumers in 35 states to easily and illegally purchase wine from out of state sources that according to these states’ laws is illegal. Law breaking is a risky business. The potential law-breakers must weigh the consequences of getting caught versus the benefits of successfully avoiding detection of…
Today, in nearly any thoughtful discussion of fine wine by knowledgeable drinkers, one finds a near universal bias towards Land-Focused or “terroir-driven” wines over “Hand-Focused” or winemaker-driven wines. This land-focused bias—the belief that wines that accurately depict a terroir are “better” wines—is nothing new. Old World wine drinkers and vintners have held this attitude for generations and have codified the bias into appellation laws. What I’ve been wondering is this: Is a land-focused fine wine bias a more reasonable or…
