Drink Charitably!

I read recently that there is a new advocacy group based in Illinois run by consumers who simply want to be able to have any wine they choose shipped to them directly.  Now this, to me, seems as simple request…not to mention a fundamental right. But as many of you know, when it comes to shipping wine direct to the consumer, each state is like a unique country, and it is very clear that there are other factors at work here. 

The distributor base has a stranglehold on the delivery of wine and want to keep it.  And the state governments want the taxes collected.  Together, they have, over the years, very efficiently delivered wine to restaurants & retailers, and have effectively delivered the taxes to the government.  Very comfy bedfellows.

But times have changed — the number of wines available for sale vastly outnumber the distributor’s ability to carry & deliver the wines while technology has both made these wines easily available to the consumer AND pay the appropriate taxes.  Yet we still have the stranglehold.

The Illinois Wine Consumer Coalition is a wonderful example of the consumers banding together to push back and regain rights. According to their website:

“For years, decisions about your ability to access the wines you want have been made by lobbyists and politicians, entrenched in a system in place since the end of Prohibition. In the past decade, all areas of commerce have been radically changed by the development of the internet. We can now buy small-run printings of books, hand painted t-shirts, and boutique sausages from all over the country and the world – yet we cannot purchase wine from retailers outside of Illinois. As concerned Illinois wine consumers, we’re putting our voices together to ask for fair and equitable laws for all products, and a return of our right to purchase wines directly from any retailer or winery in any state.”

The mission of the new consumer-advocacy group reads in part:
 
“The Illinois Wine Consumer Coalition and its members provide a voice for Illinois wine consumers. Our foundational principle is that Illinois consumers should have full access to the wines of their choice from both Illinois and out-of-state wineries and retailers. A well-regulated and efficient wine market demands full access to all wines for adult Illinois consumers. ”

http://www.illinoiswineconsumers.org

I encourage you to go to this website and join the coalition.  Even if you do not live in Illinois, it speaks to all of us who wish to deny restraint of trade and restore common sense.  And if you are interested, please read a post I wrote a few months back about my ‘Modest Proposal’ for wineries regarding this issue.  On both, I’d love to know your thoughts and if you feel there is a solution.