Archive for the ‘Wine Legal Battles’ Category

Aug 1, 2006

Making the Case for Fairness in Wine

What’s the argument for allowing wineries to sell direct to retailers and restaurateurs, a privilege that wine industries across the country are losing as wholesalers convince legislators to pull this privilege? It’s all summed up HERE pretty nicely   in an editorial from The Daily Press in Virginia, a state whose wineries have lost that right one month ago. As for the downside of losing this right to sell directly to retailers and restaurants: "If this policy continues, some of the…

Aug 1, 2006

Wine Distributors + Money + Lawmakers

It is such a common story I hesitate to even deliver this information to FERMENTATION readers. However, I can’t resist. Reports in Illinois newspapers have that state’s beer and wine distributors delivering more bribes campaign contributions to legislators in the first half of this year than in any other six month period in history. The stories note that it was during this time that the Illinois beer and wine distributors were looking to the legislature to pass a law that…

Jul 27, 2006

“Fixing” The Wine Sales Results?

The Hypergigantitholic (that’s a technical term in the wine industry meaning "BIG") wine company known a Constellation seems to find itself in a bit of an embarrassing situation down in Australia. According to reports, in an attempt to influence sales trials at a dining chain that was testing the popularity of a couple Constellation brands before adding them to their list, Constellation told their employees to go to these restaurants and buy the wine in order to "maximize volumes" during…

Jul 26, 2006

Should Wine Critics Be Sued?

I suspect THIS STORY will be picked up around the wine blogosphere. If it isn’t it should be. It appears that an Australian winery, perturbed that a wine blogger’s poor review of their wines shows up high in the search engines, had threatened legal action against the blogger. I was made aware about this turn of events through an email sent to me, and many others I believe, by the folk at Wine Life Today. They were highlighting a post…

Jul 25, 2006

France to Winery: “You’re Third Rate”

Can you imagine the Federal Govt. or a state government in the United States refering to a winery as "Third Rate"? This is the job of wine critics, isn’t it? Yet it France it appears that such character assassination is the purview of government. The French want to put a six lane highway and a TGV line through Bordeaux to make the trip from Spain to Northern France quicker. However, in doing so they are going to have to go…