Friday, February 1, 2008

A call to ACTION!

It's funny-I get frothy about how important it is to Vote, then I get on my soapbox to push you to contact your local legislator on something that (in the eternal scheme of things) is not "important" (like tax, school or economic reform, etc.). Today I am harping on Direct Wine Shipments. In the late 1990's Georgia made it a felony to receive wine from out of state. I received 2 bottles a month from a vineyard and was learning quite a bit about wine (i.e. I tried many grape varietals only because they sent them to me). Well, the state said that they were protecting children. Yeah, right--I'm sure your average teenager wants to spend $50 and wait a week or two to receive 2 bottles that will most likely make them gag. Nice try! I actually researched the contribution records at the Secretary of State after that and found that Distributors were the Alcoholic Beverage Committee's largest contributors! Surprised? Not so much! In recent years they've changed this backwards law to allow you to ship up to 5 cases IF you were "on-site" to buy the wine. This doesn't cut it! As an example, I love Ravenswood Zin. You can buy "Vintner's Blend" all day long at Kroger, etc. What about their single-vineyard wines that are only sold at the vineyard (such as a limited 150-300 case production)? Those will NEVER make it go GA--THAT'S what I want shipped to me. Heck, I'd even pay GA taxes if that's the issue. Click HERE to find and Contact your STATE Reps today--you need your FULL zipcode! Another great resource is FREE THE GRAPES!

No comments: