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Wine Expert
Michael De Loach
Why Do the Government and Special Interests Team Up to Keep You from Buying Wine Directly from the Maker?
Good Question!
In California we’re all used to the Wild West Anything Goes mentality, and wine is no exception. You can get wine shipped to you, or go into pretty much any winery and buy a bottle of wine. You can even bring in your own bottle and fill it up at a tank. Seriously. Fedex, UPS and any number of shipping companies will be more than happy to handle your booze for you. Except one: the United States Postal Service. That’s a felony.
In fact, regardless of who might handle the transportation, there are a handful of states where it is also a felony offense to ship in California wine. Those of you who are unfamiliar with these regulations are probably thinking: are you kidding me?
Unfortunately, I am not.
First of all, let me state for the record that I depend on my distributors (also known as wholesalers) in each state for their salespeople, their trucks and delivery systems, and their local expertise in getting my wines to market. They are my partners in business, and have been for over three decades. It’s a symbiotic relationship: we depend on one another.
That being said, there is a lobbying group that works on behalf of my loyal partners, called the Wine & Spirits Wholesalers Association of America (http://www.wswa.org/) that seems inexplicably opposed to actually getting wine into the hands of consumers. I know this seems crazy, and it is. Allow me to explain.
The WSWA wants to eliminate any, repeat any kind of direct shipping to consumers. Their position is based deeply in fear – the fear that massive revenues will be lost and entire industries (of the wholesale variety) will be crushed as consumers abandon retail entirely and flock to purchase all their booze online.
As anyone with a half a brain in their head would discern, this is simply impossible. Nobody is going to start buying Gallo on Amazon; the shipping is too expensive. The sheer weight of the product precludes successful, sustainable wine sales through individual private shipment at less that $20 per bottle—and that’s 90% of the industry. So, logically, the WSWA has nothing to worry about.
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