CRAWFORDSVILLE — If you love hazelnuts the best Oregon and Washington state producers would be happy to ship you some.
Whether it’s fruit from Florida, books from Amazon, or outdoor clothing from L.L. Bean — those companies will be happy to ship to your front step.
But if you want wine, just start banging your head against the wall now. Wine shipping laws vary from state to state, are contradictory, and unfair.
And one of the dirty secrets is the amount of money state legislators pocket from those wanting to keep the system in place.
Most states are governed by three-tier systems. Nearly all wine is sold producer to wholesaler to retailer. In other words, wholesalers have complete say over what product you can buy off the retail shelf, not to mention the additional mark-up in price.
The laws concerning direct shipment to your door are even more convoluted. I was in an Oregon winery in April wanting to buy a case of wine but they couldn’t direct ship it to my home because they do have an Indiana wholesaler. I feel obligated to point out that you read the previous sentence correctly.
But let’s go back to that dirty little secret.
Grape Sense runs in eight different Indiana communities. I looked up six or seven legislators from the varying communities, not everyone, and found every single lawmaker had accepted campaign contributions from wholesale distributors. As a matter of fact, it seems if you’re in the general assembly you’re guaranteed at least $500 from the booze lobby every campaign cycle. And if your legislator is in leadership, the dollar figure will be higher.
But don’t take my word for it! Check your Indiana legislator’s record at www.followthemoney.org.
Every Indiana legislator I researched had contributions from one or more of the major wholesalers.
Legislators consistently repeat the incredibly inane argument promulgated by the wholesalers about “keeping alcohol out of the hands of minors.”
There has never been a single complaint, arrest, or incident of an underage person trying to buy a nice Cabernet for his or her Friday night binge. No, they find someone a bit older to buy their booze at the corner liquor store. Which seems to be the bigger problem?
By the way, to buy booze online you have to have a credit card – something most of us understand.
Between 2000 and 2009 alcohol wholesalers contributed more than $66 million to state campaigns. In Indiana since 2000, wholesalers contributed a minimum of $203,000 in even-numbered election years. They really twisted some arms in 2004 stuffing Hoosier legislator’s pockets with $678,389.
What can you do? There is an Indiana Web site with regular updates and calls to action at www.vinsense.org.
But you can have an impact talking and writing to your state representative and senators. These laws are 70 years old and don’t protect consumers; they just inhibit free enterprise. It won’t change overnight, but it starts by educating wine lovers about the self-serving interests who control what you can buy.
Howard W. Hewitt, Crawfordsville, writes regularly about wine. Read his blog at www.redforme.blogspot.com. Contact him at: hewitthoward@gmail.com.
Valley Life
GRAPE SENSE: Wine shipping laws vary by state, are contradictory, unfair
- Valley Life
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