Archive for the ‘Wine Business’ Category
HR 1161, commonly referred to as the CARE ACT, has divided the alcohol industry, pitting wholesalers (who wrote the bill) against producers and retailers who see the bill as a power grab by wholesalers that will lead to discriminatory state laws aimed at excluding producer and retailers from accessing out-of-state markets and will protect wholesalers from competition. Wholesalers complain that this is an unfair assessment of HR 1161. They complain that the bill does nothing except preserve the state's right…
If you have never had the benefit of working with an editor, it might not be perfectly clear that they do far more than check for spelling and grammar errors. The fact is, editing is a creative process that requires the ability to choose among many options. There is a very special form of editing that wine industry professionals need to appreciate: the ability to choose which stories to highlight. This skill is most obviously on display among the various…
I'm smart enough to know that the customer is not always right. After all, I'm a customer. However, the customer is always accommodated. Twice now, in a very short span of time, I've been correctly accommodated by a restaurant that served me bad wine, but in the process there was an intimation that the wine was not "bad", just not preferred by me. This blog post is about ego. My ego. This past weekend, while getting together with friends I'd…
The term "Hoodwinked" reportedly originates in the 16th century. It meant then the actually covering of a person's head with a hood to prevent them from seeing anything, such as when an executioner would cover the head of a doomed criminal prior to execution. Today's usage of the term "hoodwinked" refers to tricking someone. And this is exactly what is happening in Washington, DC as America's beer wholesalers attempt to convince lawmakers to support one of the most radical proposals…
"No legitimate player in the industry feels litigation is an appropriate method for establishing or altering alcohol policy."Craig Wolf, President, Wine & Spirits Wholesalers Association The above quote comes from a press release issued by WSWA applauding the introduction of HR 1161. One wonders if WSWA's two largest members, and the two largest wine wholesalers in America, know have been identified as as "illegitimate" by their very own trade association. After all, consider… • In 2001 Glazers Wholesale Distributor sued…
