Stop Wining

The geniuses in the State Senate have deferred the proposal to allow wine to be sold in grocery stores, thus stalling it indefinitely. This comes despite widespread consumer support for the measure.

Here's something to consider, something that hasn't really been brought up in this debate. The wholesalers and the retailers claim that allowing wine to be sold in the grocery stores would cause them to lose money, despite evidence of that not happening in other states. But grocery stores still would not necessarily offer the selection that you could get in a liquor store. I'm not saying wine sold in Publix wouldn't be good wine, but it would probably look more like Trader Joe's Two-Buck Chuck than, say, a classified-growth Bordeaux (but again to clarify, I'm not saying Two-Buck Chuck is bad; on the contrary, it's probably one of the best bargains out there).

But wine in the grocery store won't drive the big-spending customers away from the retailers. The people who drop that kind of money on wine...the ones who drink Bordeaux or who constantly seek out the newest and hottest California vineyards or who look for more unusual wines like Spanish Rioja or Argentinean Malbec...they'll still go to the liquor stores for the more varied selection.

And besides, you'll still have to go to the package store for hard liquor. I have absolutely nothing to back this up other than a hunch, but I'd be willing to bet that whiskey probably sells better than wine in Tennessee anyway. And of course, beer will always be the top-seller.

None of the arguments against this measure stand up to scrutiny. The loss of business and employment for package stores didn't happen in the 33 other states where this has been allowed. No correlation between wine in grocery stores and underage drinking has been proven (because the kids go for the beer anyway!), and Mothers Against Drunk Driving have indicated that they do not oppose this legislation. The opposition to this bill is nothing more than a very entrenched, powerful lobby that does not want to see any competition to their monopoly, even if it means screwing consumers over.

This was my favorite quote from the head of the retailers' association:

Just because something's good for other states doesn't mean it's good for ours. Forty-one states have an income tax. Is that reason for us to have one, too?

Oh, snap! A measure to bring in extra revenue for the state from people who would gladly pay the sales tax is JUST like the income tax! Why not compare it to TennCare and gay marriage too? That would hit the Tennessee Boogeyman Trifecta!

The State Senate also deferred a measure that would allow wine to be directly shipped to customers in Nashville, through Internet sales. This one is going to be even harder to pass, because it's even easier to scare people with the underage drinking meme when it comes to ordering off the Internet.

Here's an anecdote though. Last fall, after sampling an excellent Washington State Syrah in my Wines class here at Cornell, I wanted to get a bottle of it for myself. But it came from a small winery that mainly sells to restaurants, and the only way to get it was to order off their website. I ended up getting it a day later than expected. Why? Because UPS came when I wasn't home, and they wouldn't let my roommate sign for it. I had to be there personally, so they could check my ID.

True, there's no way to verify someone's age over the Internet. But UPS and DHL aren't stupid, they're not going to let themselves be implicated in anything illegal.

And neither are the grocery stores.