Archive for the ‘Wine Legal Battles’ Category
There exist, and have long existed, a number of alcohol-related laws and regulations around the various states that don’t seem to have any reasonable justification. However, in many cases, we just don’t care about this because the law itself is of so little consequence that spending much time considering its justification is just time wasted. For example, in Alaska it is or was against the law to feed moose alcohol. Don’t spend time contemplating the public policy justification for this…
My guess is that if you have to work as a lobbyist in Washington, DC, you could do a whole lot worse than work for the Champagne Bureau USA. What’s not to like about Champagne. It’s not like these guys ascend Capital Hill and ask gun advocates to ban guns. It’s not like they look lawmakers in the face and demand their multi-billion dollar banking clients be exempted from commonsense laws. No. they merely ask that the term “Champagne” be…
For a few days now I’ve been staring at this study of “Concentration in the U.S. Wine Industry”. It has a spiffy graphic that I like. And I learned that three large wine companies with multiple brands account for 50% of all wine sales in the U.S. The point of the study comes down to the question the authors pose and attempt to answer: “What impact does this industry concentration have on consumer choices?” The problem is the question is…
Where the consumer is concerned, there is basically one important position: “Allow me to get the beer, wine and spirits I want.” Yet this most basic interest of the consumer is continually thwarted by the predominant method of alcohol sales and distribution in the United States: the legal mandate that all alcohol flow from producer to distributor to retailer. This method of separating the production, distribution and retail sales aspects of the alcohol industry—known as the “Three Tier System”—has come…
Color me shocked. Shocked I tell you. A new study finding that Canadian Government-owned and run liquor stores offer consumers better prices than privately owned liquor stores as well as better adhering to government regulations was commissioned by the employees union representing workers at government-run Canadian liquor stores. The government employee-commissioned study finding that government employees do a fantastic job at government liquor stores comes as consideration is underway on privatizing government liquor stores. Amazing. Isn’t this a bit like…
