Archive for the ‘Wine Legal Battles’ Category
I've been following direct shipment litigation now for well over a decade. At first I read briefs and decisions issued in the various cases across the country because clients of mine were helping push the issue forward. Reading not only legal briefs but also decisions and analyses of court decisions means learning another language if you are not a lawyer. And I am decided not a lawyer. Still, it's actually been something of a great intellectual pleasure for me to…
Over the years I've found myself in a position of asking my colleagues in the wine industry and folks in the hospitality industries to give me things. "Donations" they are called. Some people are better than others at doing the asking. I fall somewhere in the middle. In asking for wines, airline tickets, hotel rooms, memorabilia and other items, almost always for auctions, I have learned one thing: You get your best results when you tell the potential giver that…
The three-tier system of having a “distributor” in between the producer of wine and the wine retailer was put into place after prohibition to prevent the abuses associated with “tied houses” prior to prohibition. Unfortunately this system has merely served to duplicate the corruption that it was created to fix. Prior to prohibition, suppliers wielded so much power they could control retailers by threatening not to supply them. Retailers became “tied” to particular alcohol producers. The “tied” retailers were forced…
I understand federalism, that political philosophy in which power is divided between a national and state governments. It's the concept that helps keep local communities in control of what are usually deemed local matters. I support it too. It should be noted, however, that it is federalism that allows purely religious concepts and ideas to become embedded in local policy making and law. In Georgia there is a bill moving through the legislature that would allow local communities to vote…
Updating The Supply ChainWines & Vines Magazine, May 2009 This was published in last month's Wines & Vines Magazine and it's every bit as relevant today as it was 30 days go. Take home quote: "We live and work in a new world that requires new wine regulations. Yet without a cooperative political effort by retailers and wineries, needed change won't come. And if it doesn't, the next economic downturn won't hurt nearly as many businesses–because there won't be…
