Pinot Law

As many of you know, I have been following the developments relating to possible changes to Maryland’s direct shipment laws. Unfortunately, according to this article, things are not looking good. According to the article, a House of Delegates committee yesterday rejected one bill that would have let Maryland consumers buy wine directly from Internet merchants and wineries.

Because God forbid Maryland do what 35 other states are already doing. A Senate version of the bill was also debated late last week, although its chance of passage also appears slim. Of course, my favorite quote comes from colorful Maryland lobbyist Bruce Bereano, who represents the Licensed Beverage Distributors of Maryland. According to Bereano, these bills are bad news because “[i]f you make it so profoundly easy for national wine brands to get their product directly to consumers, they’re going to take out Maryland wineries.”

Let me translate that for you: “Please protect the interests of my clients (the distributors) at the expense of small, local wineries. It is fantastic public policy to: 1) deprive consumers of choice; 2) keep small wineries beholden to the interests of distributors; and 3) cut off potential tax revenue to the states for no good reason. Because everyone knows that when someone who enjoys wine wants that something special shipped to their house, they are going to order some Box o’ Wine over the Internet from one of those national wine brands.”  The irony of Bereano’s comment of course, is that by depriving small wineries of direct shipment options, you are just reinforcing the tremendous advantage already held by the national wine brands.

As a Virginia winery owner, I would love to ship into Maryland so that consumers could enjoy our wine. And let me translate that for all of the Maryland legislators out there who for whatever reason are opposed to this bill: “I want to give you tax revenue.”

BYOB used under a Creative Commons license provided by Rick.