Archive for the ‘Wine Legal Battles’ Category
Something interesting happened on the way to fairness and modernity. It appears that brewers in the state of Massachusetts are putting the pieces in place to overturn the state’s evil Franchise Law. For those of you unfamiliar with franchise laws, they are the equivalent of entering into a marriage with an untrustworthy person and not being able to divorce them even if they abuse you, walk out on you and take the kids too. Franchise laws are in place in…
Someone is about to get screwed. If a winery in New York purchases grapes from a Napa Valley vineyard, has the Napa Valley grapes refrigerated and shipped to its winery in New York, then crushes, presses and ferments those Napa Valley grapes into a wine, then bottles that wine, can we reliably say that the wine is a “Napa Valley Wine”? The practical answer is definite. The philosophical answer is even more certain. Currently, the practical answer is that currently…
In a recent article at Wine Searcher, Writer Liza Zimmerman attempts to answer the question, what would the American wine marketplace look like if wholesalers (the middle tier of the three-tier system) were eliminated. It’s a tantalizing question and Zimmerman does a good job of sussing out answers with the help of some pretty smart people. However, in the end it’s a silly question. It’s like asking, what would the American wine marketplace look like without retailers? Zimmerman sets the…
The Nimby movement in Napa County is quickly becoming a laughing-stock. And there is good reason for this all too common response. Consider this tidbit written by Dan Mufson of Napa Vision 2050, the Chief Nimbyist organization: “Napa’s resident-based agricultural economy is dying. It is quickly being replaced by a corporate-based tourism economy. Willful ignorance is never a pretty thing. However, it is a desperate thing and that is the only possible explanation for this most ignorant of statements. Shall…
How do you know when its safe to ignore a critic? When they demonstrate a willingness to engage in simple, meaningless rhetoric, rather than in delivering their opinions with words that mean something. This tendency to ignore the meaning of words and even make them up with no care for what they mean is on display in among the current batch of Nimby Wine Industry Critics who whine about under organizations titled, “Napa Vision 2050”, “Soda Canyon Road” and others….
