The Road To Reason and New Orleans
July 28, 2008 – 6:25 amThe road to reason and commonsense is often twisted and curvy. Take the continuing effort to bring wine sales into the 21st century. This effort most recently lead to hot and sweltering New Orleans where the National Conference of State Legislatures held their Annual Conference. Along with literally hundreds of other topics and issues, direct shipment of wine was on the agenda in the form of a session entitled, “What Hath Granholom Wrought”.
Specialty Wine Retailers Association attended the Conference and the “Granholm” session in order to meet those people who find themselves interested both in the issue of direct sales of wine as well as legislation.
The panel consisted of Tracy Genesen of Kirkland & Ellis and one of the leading wine lawyers in America, Steve Gross from the California Wine Institute , Stephen Diamond of the University of Miami School of Law and Associate General Counsel Karin Moore of the Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of America. The panel was moderated by New Mexico Senate Majority Leader Michael Sanchez.
Of late, the rhetoric of those opposed to adults ordering wine from retailers outside the state has hardened into a fairly simple and predictable refrain: “they want to tear down the system that has worked for more than 75 years.” This idea was repeated, again, by the WSWA’s Moore and Professor Diamond.
It is, and always has been, telling that opponents of access to wine and consumer rights tend not to make a positive argument for denying these things, but rather try to cast retailers and direct shippers in the light of barbarians at the gate, wanting only to tear something down. It’s usually necessary to explain that barbarians rarely ask to be taxed, to be subjected to legal and regulatory jurisdiction and to be required to file reports with the state at who’s gates they stand.
The debate over direct shipment of wine to consumers will now move down another road and stop at another venue where the benefits of commonsense and reason will be again be unfurled for another audience.