Archive for the ‘Wine Consumers’ Category
Recently, an administrative bureaucrat went well beyond his role as the enforcer of laws that others passed, and became the protector, champion and cheerleader of those folks whose actions they are charged with monitoring for the state. If not a culture of corruption that lets this happen, it is certainly an attitude of disregard that supports this kind of improper dismissal of fairness, perspective and self control. Yesterday in a press release issued by the Texas Alcohol Beverage Commission, the…
Thinking About… THE REVELATIONUpon reading Anthony Lane's remarkably thoughtful analysis of Terrence Malik's new film, The Tree of Life, in The New Yorker, it finally hit me why wine critics likely won't rise to the quality challenge laid down by critics surveying other pursuits such as film, literature, dance and music: As an object of analysis and thoughtful critique, a wine provides no interpretation of the human condition, giving its critics little to grasp on to in order to engage…
Washington State wine consumers have it bad. Not only does the state make it illegal for in-state and out-of-state retailers to ship to Washingtonians, but the Washington wineries, in the form of their own trade organization the Washington Wine Institute, did all it could this year to kill a proposed law that would have allowed residents of Washington State to legally have wines shipped to them from wine retailers inside and outside the state. Bottom Line: The Washington Wine Institute…
Today the Wall Street Journal took a strong stand against H.R. 1161, calling it a "Bad Bill" and taking notice that if passed it would "reduce choices and raise prices for consumers." What I like most about this important editorial from a newspaper that is carefully watched on Capitol Hill is the editorial board's keen awareness of the the truly anti-American nature of the bill seen in the way it would strip wine retailers of their commerce clause protections by…
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…
