Archive for the ‘Wine Legal Battles’ Category
"Pennsylvania residents could have a little more liquor freedom, but only if they prefer American wine over the French, German or Australian varieties….'The people of Pennsylvania are really getting less than what they should be getting,” Farnese said, adding that 90 percent of the world’s wine would not be shipped under the proposal.' " To put this another way, The Pennsylvania Senate passed out a direct shipping bill that would bar Pennsylvanians from having wine shipped to them from any…
ALERT! Unless you have an unusually deep interest in the alcohol legal theory, the constitutional foundations of the Three-Tier System or wine politics, then you should probably maneuver away from this blog post. In my most recent post on Health care, the Supreme Court and Wine, I made passing reference to excellent recent scholarship on the issue of legal issues surrounding the three tier system and the how the courts have addressed these issues. I wanted to highlight this scholarship…
For the past decade or more, Article 1, Section 8 of the United States Constitution, otherwise known a the "Commerce Clause" has been a key issue in the somewhat obscure realm of wine politics and law. It has been a the center of the wine direct shipping legal and political battles. The question for alcohol beverage attorneys, reporters and other interested parties in the wine industry has been "how can the Commerce Clause, which grants the federal government the power…
Worrying that money might control politics is akin to being concerned that Burgundy is overpriced. That horse has left the barn. But what's true and what matters where money and politics is concerned is that money buys access to the halls of power, that place where policy is enacted and where money buy protection. What's interesting, and what this post is ultimately about is that staggering amounts of money dedicated to politics, while often getting its way, doesn't always get…
The recent wine scandal in New York, where giant wholesalers are attempting to make life difficult for small wholesalers with the passage of an "At Rest" law, is an object lesson in how the industry has politically balkanized itself in ways that make no sense given the current marketplace reality. Small wine wholesalers in New York are up in arms over legislation in Albany that would force them to move their warehousing operations to New York. The "At Rest" legislation…
