Today marks the 78th anniversary of Repeal of Prohibition, the day the last state necessary ratified the 21st Amendment. It's certainly a day to mark and take account of. It is also, apparently, a day to celebrate absurdity. "Today’s [alcohol regulatory] system balances a competitive industry with local social standards and community desires. It is this system that fuels today’s robust and dynamic licensed beverage industry that creates access to market for start-up businesses."CRAIG PURSER, National Beer Wholesalers Association Craig…
What an interesting year in wine. Legal battles, political battles, movements rising, technology, new markets, and changes in the media led the news. Here are my top wine stories for 2011 A SMALL CRACK IN THE WALL: Initiative 1183 Takes Washington Out of the Booze Business and Into the 21st CenturyIt has been a long time since a state abandoned its control of the alcohol marketplace and turned it over to the private sector. Initiative 1183 in Washington State did…
How many ways are there to improve the world of wine for consumers? At least 10! 10. More Local Wine ColumnsMore wine columns in local daily newspapers means more coverage of the local wine scene. Whether it's in an on-line format or in the pulp edition, local wine columns put consumers in touch with wine happenings they can actually participate in. 9. More Local WineState governments, counties and local municipalities ought to make a point of promoting thier local wineries….
With Initiative 1183 in Washington State now recently passed into law by state voters and the state out of the business of selling spirits, it's time to fix this law. The primary flaw with Initiative 1183 is the requuirement that private stores selling spirits be 10,000 square feet or larger. When the initiative was written that requirement was placed in the law to assure critics that corner convienence stores and gas stations wouldn't be selling hard liquor. While I disagree…
Last year, when a ballot measure in Washington State that would have taken Olympia out of the business of selling spirits failed to pass, we learned that the failure meant this: “The vote in Washington state should send a clear message to lawmakers in the nation’s capitol… when given the choice, people do not want to see alcohol deregulated." This was the teaching of Craig Wolf, president of the Wine & Spirit Wholesalers of America (WSWA), which opposed the 2010…
