Wine baby
Let the wine flow
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in May that states couldn't discriminate when it comes to selling and shipping wine directly to consumers. If a state allows wineries within its borders to sell wine to consumers over the phone or Internet, it must accord the same privilege to out-of-state wineries. To do otherwise is an unconstitutional infringement on interstate commerce. ... The best choice for consumers is to allow the wine to flow. If Illinois residents want to buy wine over the Internet, through catalogs or telephone sales from wineries located anywhere in the country, they should be allowed to do so. That competition will bring the best price and selection.But that's not the favorite solution of Illinois beer and wine distributors. They want to put a cork in your ability to get the widest choice for wine purchases.
Illinois beer distributors--fearful that the court ruling means they will eventually be threatened by new competition--want state lawmakers to get even more restrictive on alcohol sales. Under one proposal, wineries would be allowed to direct-ship only two cases of wine each year to customers, and only after the customers had made a purchase in person from the winery.
The state's wineries have a different solution. They want each winery to be permitted to operate up to 10 shops for wine sales. (Current law allows two.) They also want the legislature to require out-of-state wineries to get an Illinois license and pay an annual fee. Out-of-state wineries could ship up to three cases of wine a month to customers in Illinois, provided their home states allowed Illinois wineries to do the same. Yes, they want to re-create a system of reciprocity.
What a crock.
Illinois wine and beer merchants, from the Capone era of bootlegging, until now, have entirely too much clout in the Illinois legislature. That the liquor distributors are even getting their monopolies consideration is a travesty. Let the wine flow, as the Trib says. What's wrong with a little healthy competition? Isn't that capitalism defined?
Tags: Advertising, /wine
