Archive for the ‘Wine Legal Battles’ Category
It was reported today that the Wine & Spirit Wholesalers of America have contributed $3.7 Million to the effort to kill the an alcohol distribution reform initiative in Washington State. Initiative 1183, if passed, would get the state out of the business of distributing and selling liquor. The ballot initiative also would allow wine distributors and wineries to offer volume discounts and to sell directly to retail stores and restaurants if they choose. Finally, Initiative 1183 makes the commonsense reform…
The main sponsor of House Resolution 1161 (The CARE Act), Rep Jason Chaffetz (R-UT), has announced he will not seek the GOP nomination for what is currently Orrin Hatch's long held Senate seat. This announcement is a blow to many who hoped that Chaffetz might take the seat from Hatch and go on to sponsor the anti-wine bill in the Senate. In nearly two years of trying, wine and beer wholesalers have been unable to find a single member of…
A recent analysis of the direct wine shipping market concludes that American wineries must prepare to increase their direct shipping capabilities in order to accommodate what will be an unanticipated yet staggering increase in the direct sales and shipments of wine. The coming increase in direct shipped wine will, according to the recent analysis, marginalize most if not all sales via the three tier system. The source of the new analysis of the direct shipping market is Joseph Cryan of…
It's notable that as alcohol wholesalers and their advocates defend the three tier system and attempts to prevent any changes or reforms to that system, we see less and less reference to the system's ability to prevent minors from obtaining alcohol. When the direct shipping debate took off in the early 1990s and up until about 3 years ago. we heard wholesalers and their advocates regularly claim that allowing any changes to the three tier system would result in minors…
What I've learned at the 2011 Wine Bloggers Conference…So Far 1. The choice of Charlottesville for the location of the conference is an inspired one. Not only is it a town filled with gracious and proud folks, but it oozes history. And for a long-time student of American history, it's actually kind of difficult to explain the thrill to walk amongst that history. 2. Jancis Robinson, the first keynote speaker at the Conference, might be unique among practiced and established…
