Brewnotes » Wine

Do Wine Critics Really Help You Select a Bottle?

Ben Brouse — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 13:15:48 +0000

I’ve posted about this before but I think Tom Wark over at the Fermentation: The Daily Wine Blog is more adept at describing the situation.

"There are many trustworthy palates; you should seek out as many as you can. You should find out their favorites and if you can afford them, you should try them to see if your palate roughly aligns. If they offer no great reviews of affordable wines, you should look elsewhere; great wine is all around, just like good reviewers."

I look forward to the day that the 100 point scale is gone. Have you ever seen a bottle labeled with a 38 in a liquor store? I assure you – there are probably some that should be.

It’s Dead Now (MD Wine Shipping)

Ben Brouse — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 12:46:15 +0000

This looks like it isn’t going to be the year of direct wine shipping in MD. Eye on Annapolis has some great coverage of yesterdays proceedings.

Not Dead Yet (MD Wine Shipping)

Ben Brouse — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 22:31:16 +0000

Via MMBWL Facebook. Hooray for MD Sen Bobby Zirkin. At least one legislator has some common sense. Possibly he represents his constituents? *sarcasm*

“Zirkin independently offered an amendment today to SB 858 (Winery Improvement act, which had made it onto the floor) to allow Direct Shipping of Wine. The Senate will vote on this on Tuesday. “

If you haven’t been paying attention, check this out.

Follow the Money

Ben Brouse — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 12:34:34 +0000

Great post on the HoCo Rising blog. Sen. Joan Carter Conway’s fundraising reports are dissected and attribution is placed on the portion from the alcohol lobby (at least the ones that can figured out).

Couple this with the informative article from the Washington Post.

“The industry’s network of political action committees, 120,000 employees, and powerful distributors and wholesalers have contributed more than $1.3 million to state lawmakers since 2000, according to campaign finance reports.

They have also spent nearly $900,000 in the past five years to maintain a stable of lobbyists and lawyers in Annapolis whose firms have represented the industry for more than three decades, according to state ethics reports.

General Assembly sessions are kicked off with a roughly $16,000-open-bar reception for lawmakers and their families, and the industry’s wining and dining usually continues, such as with a $2,500 steak dinner Feb. 3 at Lewnes Steakhouse, an Annapolis institution. “

If you are still wondering why the Direct Wine Shipping Bill isn’t going to pass anytime soon, look no further.

Can you afford Maryland’s proposed alcohol tax?

Ben Brouse — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 19:25:41 +0000

The following letter regarding the The Lorraine Sheehan Health and Community Services Act of 2010 was sent to the delegates who represent me. I’m looking forward to hearing their responses. I’ve posted before about this topic. In case you missed those posts, look here. Comments are welcome.

Delegates Malone & DeBoy,

I would like to understand your position on House Bill 832.   I am concerned that this is an easy target to raise taxes without looking at the source of Maryland’s budget woes.   While I am not opposed to raising taxes, I take great exception to the following passage of the bill:

"Comptroller shall distribute the remaining alcoholic beverage tax revenue to the General Fund of the State".

If this bill was intended to raise funds for health concerns, why would any funds at all make it into the general fund? Beyond this, the rate of increases for the different beverage areas are astronomical.   My intelligence is being mocked when I’m told its $0.10/beer. In actuality, the percentage increases are obnoxiously and ridiculously high:

MD proposed tax rates ($$/gal):

beer 1.16 (1,288% increase)

wine 2.96 (740% increase)

spirits 10.03 (668% increase)

If the tax increase passes, our state alcohol beverage taxes will be four times the
national average for beer (highest in the nation; 2nd place Alaska at $1.07/gal), over three-and-half times the national average for wine (highest in the nation; 2nd place Alaska at $2.50/gal), and just shy of 50% higher than the national average for spirits (eleventh-highest in the nation; 1st place Washington state at $26.45/gal) [Source: the Jernigan paper referred to in the House bill preamble]. Please take into consideration the true impact of such a bill. Any way you slice it, this bill is bad fiscal policy and doesn’t solve any aspect of the looming budget crisis.   The only true way to solve the budget crisis is to reduce spending.

Looking forward to your response,

Ben Brouse

Update #1: I added the link to the figures that were cited.

Update #2: Both Delegates responded that they were opposed to this bill. I will be watching.

Maryland Wine Bill Fallout

Ben Brouse — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 01:58:57 +0000

Tom Wark writes the Fermentation blog. In it, he describes the absolute mockery of testifying before a committee that isn’t going to do anything regardless of the testimony. Yes, this is how democracy really works in Maryland. Too bad it was regarding the proposed Direct Wine Shipping bill (HB 716) that I’ve talked about so much before.

2010 Maryland Wine Bill is Dead

Ben Brouse — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 14:24:51 +0000

According to this article in the Baltimore Sun, it looks like the bill is dead. My older coverage is here:

(03/04/2010) Maryland Wine Bill Update
(02/18/2010) Sen. Joan Carter Conway Singlehandedly Kills MD Wine Bill
(02/08/2010) Maryland’s Wine Siege Continues
(09/20/2009) Maryland Direct Wine Shipment
(09/07/2009) Maryland Has Arcane Liquor Laws

I’m not really concerned with whether or not you agree with this legislation, but you can no longer argue the fact that Maryland’s legislature is run via back-room deals and special interest money. The fact that the majority of the committee supported the legislation, but the legislation was not allowed to come up for a vote overwhelmingly proves this.

The irony is that Maryland, still known as the “free state”, uses a moniker that was earned during the 1920’s during protests of the federally mandated prohibition of alcohol. Yes – I live in the “free state” unless I want to drink wine from that other country none as California.

Maryland Wine Bill Update

Ben Brouse — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 21:37:12 +0000

Hey folks, remember that tomorrow is the scheduled hearings for the direct wine shipping bills that I’ve previously discussed here.

Vinotrip is reporting this tasty nugget. “Marylanders for Better Beer and Wine Laws will be holding a press conference on Friday, March 5 at 12:15 PM on Lawyers’ Mall in Annapolis. The press release mentioned that there has been “an understanding reached with the alcohol industry concerning HB 716/SB 566.”

Now if we could just get Senator Joan Carter Conway to abandon her false claims that this bill would increase under-aged drinking we may just get there.

Maryland’s Three-Tier Distribution System is Broken

Ben Brouse — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 18:23:57 +0000

Interesting chatter over the last few days about a new alcohol tax bill in Maryland. Over the past weeks I’ve outlined Maryland’s Wine Siege. Now this gem. Deceptively named the “The Lorraine Sheehan Health and Community Services Act of 2010”. The house bill is here. The senate version is here.

Synopsis:

Increasing the State tax rates for alcoholic beverages sold in Maryland from $1.50 to $10.03 per gallon for distilled spirits, from 40 cents to $2.96 per gallon for wine, and from 9 cents to $1.16 per gallon for beer; providing for the distribution of the additional revenue to special funds to be used only for the purpose of providing additional funding for specified health services; etc.

Brandon Miller-Millhouse summarized as following:

“A Maryland Brewery" Brews 40 Barrel batches
40 bbl = 1240 gallons presently taxed at $111.60
with bill passed that same single batch would be taxed $1,438

…So lets say a brewery right now sells a gallon of beer for $5 (just an example) this tax makes them to have to raise the price of their product to say $7.50-$8 per gallon. The Distributor has to mark it up to retain their profit margin ($10-$11)and the retailers have to mark it up retain their profit margin ($13-$15) and WE are left paying Stone Six-Pack Prices for everything…oh and I almost forgot the 6% MD sales tax.

BTW – Brandon reads this blog, so if you’d like to leave him feedback, do it here. I won’t be handing out his email address.

Conclusion

Just another example of how clearly broken Maryland’s three-tier distribution system remains. I completely understand wanting to raise the taxes to be more in-line with other states, but don’t provide that comparison to me regarding states that don’t have a bogus three-tier distribution system in place. The reality is, the distributors don’t care because they are going to add their costs on regardless of what this bill does just as Brandon has previously outlined.

Opinions and comments welcome.

Sen. Joan Carter Conway Singlehandedly Kills MD Wine Bill

Ben Brouse — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 15:57:34 +0000

Update 02/20/2010: According to Alexander D. Mitchell IV via the Harrisburg Patriot News, the bill may not be dead yet. “Sen. Joan Carter Conway, has scheduled a hearing on Senate Bill 566, the direct wine shipping bill, on Friday, March 5”

Update 02/19/2010: According to this article, Adam "Borden said Conway has said she will schedule a Senate hearing for the bill after it passes in the House, which is where his organization is now concentrating its efforts. The House version of the bill, HB716, has a hearing scheduled for March 5."

Well folks, she did it. No surprise there. The surprise is “Carter Conway refused to bring the bill up for a hearing, effectively killing the legislation this year”. I’m not sure how this is democracy when the legislation had the support of 106/188 state legislators. If her argument was sound, she would have let the hearing occur.

Coverage here. Maryland’s Wine Siege Continues!.

I urge you to let her know how wrong she handled this legislation. Here are her contact details.

JOAN CARTER CONWAY
Democrat, District 43, Baltimore City

joan.carter.conway@senate.state.md.us

	beer	1.16 (1,288% increase)
	wine	2.96 (740% increase)
	spirits	10.03 (668% increase)