Archive for the ‘Wine Legal Battles’ Category

Mar 30, 2019

How Can We Screw Wine Consumers And Pretend Not To?

How hard can it be to write a law that simply allows consumers in a given state to legally receive wine shipments from sources outside that state? Believe me when I tell you, this is among the simplest legislative efforts under the sun. Yet, in Delaware, there appears to be aversion simplicity, not to mention fairness and support for consumers. A bill in that state, SB 49, is set to be heard in the Senate Banking, Business and Insurance Committee on…

Mar 26, 2019

Can the Authenticity of Oregon Wine Be Mandated by Law?

More than any other winemaking region in America, Oregon’s Willamette Valley (my new home) appears to be as or more committed to the “authenticity” of its wine products than any other winemaking region in the country. The vintners here also seem to recognize that when it comes to wine, there are two different kinds of “authenticity”. The first is the objective type in which what is actually in the bottle is genuinely a product of Willamette Valley-grown grapes. The second kind…

Mar 4, 2019

The Relationship Between Total Wine and Consumers Explained

Why are consumers so rarely consulted when it comes to public policy issues that so directly impact them? This is a question I used to pose in this forum more often than I have recently. However, a recent event motivates me to return to this question. Connecticut recently held a hearing on House Bill 7184. This is an “omnibus” liquor bill that would make a number of changes to alcohol laws in the state. Among the laws that this bill…

Feb 8, 2019

Dear Supreme Court: Please End All Inter-State Wine Shipping

It appears that the newish president and CEO of the Wine & Spirit Wholesalers of America (WSWA) Michelle Korsmo, has read the playbook and ingested the kool-aid. In a recent letter to the editor of the Washington Post, Ms. Korsmo explains that “Sometimes, local residents would like the party selling liquor to have a vested interest in the local community to ensure regulatory oversight and responsible sales. And we believe that a state’s residents have every right, through the legislative…

Jan 21, 2019

Booze Wholesalers Selling Cannabis Is Like Letting the Sharks in Pool

DON’T LET THE SHARKS IN THE POOL Yes, yes, yes. We all know that beer, wine and spirit wholesalers have everyone’s best interests at heart when they advocate that cannabis be distributed in the same manner as alcohol: controlled in every way by middlemen who can charge ridiculous margins by virtue of being able to stop interstate competition. If this is the way things are going to go, then I have a suggestion: in no way whatsoever should the federal…