Archive for the ‘Wine Legal Battles’ Category
Various wine-related Year-End and Decade-End stories have been published and posted at blogs, in magazines and in newspapers. Yet none of these wrap-up stories have addressed the one development over the past decade that probably had the most impact on the wine industry and wine drinkers. That development is this: MONEY CONTRIBUTED TO STATE-BASED POLITICAL CAMPAIGNSBY SECTORS OF THE ALCOHOL INDUSTRY (2000-2009) Alcohol Retailers: $3,219,398Beer Producers: $20,300,278Wine & Spirit Producers …
There is a HUGE difference between Dope & Wine that isn't so huge. But before we get to that, consider this: It appears likely that in November, Californians will vote on whether or not to legalize the sale and consumption of Marijuana and to tax it good and heavy. In some circles, the notion of selling and taxing Marijuana is being promoted by pointing to the success of California's wine industry in creating jobs, providing an economic engine for the…
The term "Drinking Buddies" probably doesn't have one standard meaning that everyone will accept. For example, in my case I hear "drinking buddies" and I think about those guys with whom I want to share a drink or two without launching into a coma-inducing binge. On the other hand, "Drinking Buddies" have been known to drink until they induce a coma in themselves. I've heard tell of wives that really hate their husbands "Drinking Buddies" because they take their man…
On December 5, 1933 the 21st Amendment to the U.S Constitution was fully ratified. Commonsense, along with the effects of the Great Depression, finally put an end to constitutionally endorsed prohibition on the sale of alcohol in the United States and the most radical reaction to a social problem ever attempted in this country. However, the greatest legacy of Repeal is not the re-balancing of commonsense that came with the reintroduction of capitalism to to the alcohol sector of the…
If you ever doubted the veracity of the idiom, "Necessity is the mother of invention" then just read what the powers that be are considering in Napa. After 20 years of living under the Winery Definition Ordinance that banned anything but "Appointment only Tastings" and weddings at wineries founded after 1989, there is consideration now of loosening those restrictions. Why? The economy sucks and many who previously saw no need to tempt a "Disneyland-like environment that many see as the…
