Archive for August 11th, 2006
Free the Grapes responds to WSWA
August 11th, 2006
Free the Grapes put out a quick response to the WSWA survey noted below. Here are a few excerpts
The wine wholesaler cartel today trotted out a tired argument already dismissed by the U.S. Supreme Court, the Federal Trade Commission, and state alcohol regulators.
The intent of the Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America’s “survey” on underage access is to deflect attention from their real motivation: economic protectionism. Over the past 30 years, the wholesale cartel has consolidated from 11,000 wholesalers to an oligopoly of two or three per state. The wholesalers, not consumers, have been deciding which wines are available. But now, the courts, Federal Trade Commission, and state legislatures are supporting consumer choice and responding with reasonable regulations and controls.
USA Today also took a completely different interpretation of the survey results than did the WSWA, finding that teens are not rushing online to buy wine.
A year after the Supreme Court made it easier for wineries to ship products to customers in a different state, a new survey indicates that teens haven’t necessarily rushed to use the Internet to buy alcohol, as critics of the court’s decision have feared.
What do the wine bloggers have to say about the WSWA campaign? Tom Wark gives a good summary here.
