Nov 9, 2006
This will probably me my last post concerning how wine, drinking, booze and the Devil fared in Tuesday’s elections. Below is a run down of some of the alcohol-related results in Tuesday’s election from across the country. In Rock Hill, North Carolina voters determined the world would be a better place if restaurants could offer a drink on Sunday, not just the last six days of the week: "I want to scream ‘Yippee!’ out loud," said Jeff Brown, managing partner…
Nov 8, 2006
Tom WarkFermentation: The Daily Wine BlogGlen Ellen, CA 95442 Dear Massachusetts Voters: I can’t stress how pleased I am at the leadership, both moral and practical, that you have shown in your defeat yesterday of Question 1: "Should wine be sold in stores where food is also sold?" Your opponents in this epic battle claimed they merely wanted the convenience of picking up a bottle of Pinot Noir to go with their peppered steak, all while under the same roof,…
Nov 7, 2006
It’s election day. And I’m wondering…what would a responsible wine-industry supporting candidate look like? 1. They would support a liberal guest worker program 2. They would support moderate, but not excessive taxes on alcohol 3. They would support state or federal research on grapegrowing 4. They would support laws that allow any winery anywhere to sell direct to anyone and any business anywhere. (Free trade and the dismantling of the three tier system) 5. They would support "Brown Bag" laws…
Oct 23, 2006
I wish I was a lawyer sometimes because I’ll often read something concerning a lawsuit and just not understand the intent of it. Take a recently filed suit in Oklahoma. In 2000 OK voters approved a new law that allowed OK wineries to sell their wines directly to OK restaurants and retailers, rather than being forced to sell their wines to a middleman wholesaler, who would then sell to the restaurants and retailers. Fast forward to 2006. Earlier this year…
Oct 22, 2006
I was watching the political talking heads this morning as I ran through the Sunday papers. And I started thinking, to what degree does it matter if the Republicans or Democrats control congress after the November elections. As always there are local ballot initiatives that speak to the issue of wine, such as in Massachusetts where some folks seem think that selling wine in a grocery store might end up being the death knell of civilization as we know it….