Archive for the ‘Three Tier System’ Category

Oklahoma Wine Politics—Pain in the Neck

Wednesday, September 24th, 2008

When you spend enough time watching wine politics play out, it becomes a real necessity to be able to laugh...otherwise you'll spend your time at the chiropractor from shaking your head back and forth in dismay.The wine politics playing out in Oklahoma are both hilarious as well as depressing. This November, ...

Illinois and its Payoffocracy

Friday, August 8th, 2008

Since 2005 when Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich declared it so, September is Illinois Wine Month in that state. That month is coming up and the outstanding Illinois wine industry will get some well deserved recognition. The industry has come a tremendous distance in the past 20 years producing outstanding wines ...

The Road To Reason and New Orleans

Monday, July 28th, 2008

The 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 ...

The Strange Case of Texas

Friday, July 18th, 2008

For two years since Specialty Wine Retailers Association opened its lawsuit against the state of Texas challenging the constitutionality of its ban against out-of-state retailer shipping to Texans, the state has remained open to shippers. The mechanism by which consumers were still able to procure wines from out-of-state retailers was ...

The Fallacy

Tuesday, February 5th, 2008

"The world sees the Internet as their friend, they don’t see the danger in it. I guarantee you, if I gave my daughter a gift card or a credit card tomorrow she could order a bottle of vodka on the Internet and get it three days later. They don’t see ...

Consumer Choice in Wine: “Bad Public Policy”

Tuesday, November 20th, 2007

"The misconception is that it was ever about money for wholesalers. It never was. The reason [we] don't like [direct shipping] is that it's a bad public policy." Craig Wolf, Wine & Spirit Wholesalers Association. Of course it's not about money. It is just a coincidence that every pro-consumer wine shipping policy ...

What’s the Justification for Anti-Free Market Wine Laws?

Monday, November 5th, 2007

In the course of doing research on how alcohol-related laws are constructed and passed in America I came across a document that I hadn't read in some time. It was an article written and published by the Washington State Bar Association entitled, "Time to Untie the House? Revisiting the Historical ...

Doing Wine Sales the Right Way in Wisconsin

Monday, October 29th, 2007

Late last week the Governor of Wisconsin vetoed amendments to the state's budget bill that would have, if signed and had become law, revoked Wisconsin wineries' ability to sell directly to wine retailers, bypassing the wholesaler and allowing the winery to make a little bit more on each sale of ...

Discrimination in Wine Shipping is “Efficient”?

Thursday, October 25th, 2007

Let's try to dispel a myth. This myth is about efficiency. Thanks to the new website created by the North Carolina Beer & Wine Wholesalers Association, the myth in question is spelled out nicely: "The three tier distribution system also makes the most economic sense. It provides the best method for smaller ...

Does the 3-Tier System Need to Go Away?

Wednesday, October 24th, 2007

Is the three tier system bad? Does it need to go away? Is it the position of SWRA that it should be dismantled? These are the questions that tend to arise in the course of a legislative battle over a direct shipping law in different states. They are questions that deserve ...