"If New York can do it, why not Michigan?"
Richard Aginian, president and publisher of the Observer-Eccentric
newspapers, asks, "If 28 other states can do it, why can't Michigan enact a
reasonable Direct Shipping of Wine law? Talk to the beer and wine wholesale
industry."
Michigan grassroots fight heats up
In a masterpiece of understatement, the distribution monopoly's PR flack
tells Crain's Detroit Business, "This is not an issue that we’re
going to win on the editorial pages. But it’s an issue where we have a
considerable amount of impact, in the one-on-one lobbying." We think that's
especially true when they show up with envelopes of money...
Governor Granholm says state should allow regulated wine shipping
"I think there is a balanced compromise position that can be reached,
and I expect we’ll be working on that over the summer," she tells Rick Pluta of Michigan Public Radio Network.
State campaign watchdog says distribution monopoly wants to buy public policy
Rich Robinson, executive director of Michigan Campaign Finance Network,
tells Tim Skubick on Public TV's "Off the Record" that wholesalers are
after "a strictly held monopoly on distribution of wine at the expense of
consumers in the state of Michigan and a nascent wine industry in the state
of Michigan."
Requires Real Player; move time slider to start at 20:00
Michigan wineries ridicule minor's online alcohol purchases
"In over 30 years, not one Michigan winery has been cited for selling wine
to a minor while hundreds of retail establishments in every corner of the
state are cited every day for selling liquor to minors," notes WineMichigan.
"State lawmakers are signaling a new willingness to toe the middle ground"
according to The Oakland Press
"All I want is a level playing field so I can order wines from out of
state," Ken Grezlik of Highland, collector and WineCAM steering committee
member, tells the paper.
Michigan
Agriculture Commission unanimously supports direct sales to consumers
Says
it's necessary "in order to maintain and grow
Michigan's wine industry and
increase all the benefits that it provides to the economy and our natural
heritage.”
Indiana wine journalists appalled by Michigan death wish
Our state's reputation is spreading -- but it's not the sort we'd like.
Columnists Krista and David Solomon write in the Fort Wayne, Indiana,
Journal Gazette, "New York has wisely changed its law... But
Michigan is caving in to liquor distributors and is considering banning all
wine shipments. In fact, some Michigan lawmakers are apparently so bent on
destroying one of the state’s finest tourism industries that a bill passed
out of committee last month would bar wineries from selling their own wine
directly to customers in their own tasting rooms."
"Wineries Fermenting Over Direct Ship Legislation"
Report in MiBiz.com. "The beer and wine wholesalers have got lots
of money, but I'm not afraid to go nose to nose and tell them they're
greedy. There's absolutely no valid reason to kill direct shipment," says
Duane Peterson of Peterson and Sons Winery.
Small
Business Association endorses consumer sales
Says that ban "eliminates controlled and accountable direct sales when
Michigan wines are not available through distribution and retail channels
close to the consumer."
Phil Power, chair of Hometown Newspapers and former U-M Regent, blasts Chris
Ward -- in Ward's OWN hometown paper
"What does all this say about Ward, his committee colleagues and the
Michigan Wine & Beer Wholesalers Association? My guess: Awfully close to the
edge of bribery but probably not legally over it. By the way, Ward, his
colleagues and the wholesalers' association are taking a lot of flak just
now, which they richly deserve."
Senator Michelle McManus lambastes House committee for railroading shipping
ban
"The expression 'haste makes waste' could not be more appropriate here,"
says Senate sponsor of bill to OK limited wine shipping.
George Weeks in Detroit News: "Alcohol money buys clout on wine
bills."
One of Michigan's most respected political columnists takes a look at how
the distributors' money buys power in the legislature -- with names and numbers about who takes the cash and how they vote.
Brian Dickerson in Detroit Free Press: "Follow the Money"
An intriguing idea for a new kind of "wine trail" -- follow the
distributors' money along its path to "five especially well-fed members of
the House Regulatory Reform Committee".
Sandra
Silfven in Detroit News: House committee passes "punitive" shipping
ban; won't listen to consumer and winery leaders
There's plenty of time to push through a vote, but not to take testimony
from Don Coe, leader of Michigan's wineries, and Mike Brenton, president of
the state's largest wine club and WineCAM steering committee member.
Includes links to what both of them WOULD have told the committee.
Christopher Cook slams shipping ban in Oakland Press
"It’s hard to remain rational in the face of such rank greed and
obnoxious self-interest," says one of Michigan's senior wine writers.
Writer Dan Berger boosts Michigan wines and shipping law
Berger wrote to WineCAM, "I'm a big fan of what
Michigan is doing with its
wines. I firmly believe that acceptance on a broad scale will never take
place under the current compressed wholesale situation.
Michigan needs a national audience for its wines,
and interstate shipping is the simplest method."
And now, for something completely different: Wine country blogger proposes "Chris Ward
Wine Education Fund"
Everyone laughs at those strange stories from California, so we
suppose turnabout is fair play. News of Chris Ward's "Let's Kill them
All" approach to wine shipping has them scratching
their heads on the west coast -- and from
Sonoma, top wine blogger Tom Wark has an idea: if Rep.
Ward's legislative services are up for bid, wine lovers
and winemakers should start a fund, raise some money, and
make him an offer.
Passed: Bill to PERMIT wine shipping to Connecticut consumers
It's the 28th state to allow direct-ship. An added bonus for retailers: they
can order 6 cases a year directly from small wineries, bypassing the
distribution system that doesn't represent these wineries, anyway.
Letter to the House sponsors of the shipping ban, from Ray and Eleanor Heald
In the midst of Michigan's difficult economic times, they can't believe any
Michigan legislator could support a bill that would decimate a growing
agriculture-based business sector, like our state's wineries.
Newspaper & magazine editorial links
We continue to be amazed how legislators can ignore
this unanimity of public opinion in order to preserve their
version of direct shipping -- the big bucks delivered by the
distribution monopoly to their campaign bank accounts. Do
they really think "the public be damned"?
Bay City Times blasts shipping ban
Its "backers tout the silly notions that the state may be losing
out on tax revenues from mail-order sales, and that kids
will be pawing through packages on porches, looking for that
mail-order hooch."
Crains Detroit Business says "Let Wine Shipments Flow"
“The beer and wine wholesale monopoly has even cooked up 'stings' to prove
that some shippers are delivering to minors. That only proves that current
shipping laws aren’t being enforced.”
Detroit Free Press blasts shipping ban
"In the 31 years Michigan wineries have been able to ship within the
state, no violations have been cited for sales to minors."
Detroit News calls underage drinking "no excuse to shut
down direct wine sales"
“Well before the invention of the Internet, minors were
obtaining alcohol by a variety of subterfuges. One of the most popular is
simply to have a friend of legal age purchase various forms of alcohol at a
local retailer and provide it to underage drinkers. Yet no one has suggested
closing down all beer, wine and liquor retailers.”
Detroit News blasts shipping
ban
"This is anti-competitive
legislation... It should never make it through the House."
Grand Rapids Press: House-passed bill protects
money, not minors
"Opponents of open markets for wine makers are more intent on
protecting the powerful beer and wine wholesalers than minors...
A better option is legislation from Sen. Michelle McManus, R-Lake
Leelenau,
that would allow continued sales to retailers and restaurants, and
would limit individual consumers to 24 cases each per year."
Grand Rapids Press blasts shipping ban
This bill "should have every Michigan resident -- wine lover or not --
asking what lawmakers have been drinking."
Kalamazoo Gazette blasts shipping ban
"We hope state lawmakers, despite wads of cash they've received from the
Beer and Wine Wholesalers PAC, will see the light as well."
Lansing State Journal calls it "Wine Scam"
Wholesaler's lobby is the real impetus behind alcohol-buying 'crisis'. "The
ones getting scammed in this fight are Michigan consumers."
Lansing State Journal blasts shipping
ban -- a SECOND TIME
It's not usual for a paper to editorialize on an issue more than once --
but the LSJ felt obliged to speak out again after the House committee vote.
Lansing State Journal blasts shipping ban
"If Ward truly believes in his legislation, he should immediately return the
campaign donation from the beer and wine lobbying group - proof that his
motives are pure."
Michigan Business Review blasts shipping ban
"It's getting to be that every time we see or hear about a piece of
ill-conceived legislation being bandied about Lansing, state Rep. Chris
Ward's name is attached."
Oakland Press blasts shipping ban
"We hope the full House has the sense to pour this one down the drain."
Saginaw News endorses direct shipping
The Saginaw News became the FIRST paper in the state to endorse
direct-to-consumer wine shipping, on June 1. Thanks to WineCAM supporter
Robert Plummer for catching us up!
St. Joesph / Benton Harbor Herald-Palladium blasts shipping ban
Katie Maurer, of Domaine Berrien Cellars, wanted to be sure
WineCAM knew that not just the big-city papers are weighing in
against the shipping ban. Thanks, Katie!
Toledo Blade blasts shipping ban
Not as strange as it looks -- Toledo is right on Michigan's border, and
Ohioans LOVE to rub the noses of their northern neighbors in the fact that
we're fighting against backward-looking legislation while they've already reached a
court settlement to allow shipping to Ohio residents. "It's
a new age in which many of the old monopolies, such as those who control
wine merchandising, should no longer prevail."
Traverse City Record-Eagle
calls House-passed bill a "hijacking"
"It is now up to the state Senate to derail this
takeover. No bill restricting a right the wine industry has had for decades
should even be considered. It’s a hijacking, pure and simple. It can’t be
tolerated."
Traverse City Record-Eagle blasts shipping ban
"For too long, the Michigan Legislature and Michigan Liquor
Control Commission have acted like wholly owned subsidiaries of the Michigan
Beer & Wine Wholesalers Association."
Some of
the basics...
Getting to know
the wine shipping debate and the players involved.
Under the Influence
If you only read ONE thing about the distribution monopoly's hammerlock on
Michigan's legislators and beverage regulations -- and the money they lavish
on politicians to keep it -- this is it. A
series of articles by Detroit Free Press reporter Jennifer Dixon, published
in February, features jaw-dropping research and detail. She should win a
Pulitzer for this.
FTC analysis of direct shipping and ordering online
"States that permit interstate direct shipping generally report
few or no problems with shipment to minors, with some states applying
safeguards to online sales, such as requirements that package delivery
companies obtain an adult signature at the time of delivery, and others
developing penalty and enforcement systems to provide incentives for
compliance with prohibitions on sales to minors."
Bill to BAN ALL wine shipping to Michigan consumers
Here's the full text, in glorious legalese. Bottom line: no consumer
could order wine for delivery by any winery, whether in Michigan or anywhere else.
Introduced on June 16. And sneaked in for good measure: provisions that
would prevent Michigan wineries from self-distributing their wines -- or
even selling them in their own tasting rooms! Primary sponsor: Rep. Chris
Ward, recipient of $11,800 from the distributors' PAC in the last election.
The Healds look
back -- and forward -- after their Supreme Court victory
Most of us never get a Supreme Court decision named for us. Michigan wine
journalists Eleanor and Ray Heald look back at the history of their
wine shipping case, and forward to what may happen with Michigan
direct-shipping.
Legal history of the Michigan wine shipping case
Full of documents and briefs! Maintained by Indiana University law
professor James Tanford, one of the lawyers representing the Michigan wine
consumers who challenged the state's law
Supreme Court opinion in Heald wine shipping case
Heavy reading unless you're a lawyer, but here's the
original version, without anyone's spin.
Requires Adobe Reader
Links to other
organizations
For
your information; WineCAM isn't responsible for their
content and doesn't necessarily agree with the views expressed.
WineMichigan
An organization representing Michigan wineries, led
by Don Coe of Black
Star Farms.
Free
the Grapes!
A national coalition of winemakers and consumers supporting reasonable wine
shipping laws, largely funded by California wineries. A wealth of
information about the shipping issue. Plus a page for you to send your state
legislators your opinion -- even if you're not certain of their names!
The other side of the issue...
The distributor-funded "Coalition for a Safe and Responsible
Michigan" -- the folks who brought us
Michigan's "internet stings" and piles of misleading, but expensive,
polling data.
And the source of the money that funds it...
Home to Michigan's Beer and Wine Wholesalers Association
Wine Shipping Map
From the Wine Institute, a guide to shipping wine in the US,
with links to each state's laws.
Copyright © 2005 Wine Consumers Across
Michigan
Legally, we're
WineCAM LLC -- a Michigan Limited Liability Company
Links
to recent news & opinions