HR 5034: New Law to Restrict Wine Shipments

Filed in archive Wine Laws on April 28, 2010

The voices of the wine blogosphere are united at the moment is their opposition to H.R. 5034 - the Comprehensive Alcohol Regulatory Effectiveness (CARE) Act of 2010.

Some examples of the opposition: Dr. Vino, Another Wine Blog, Fermentation: the Daily Wine Blog. You can find another thirty or forty wine blogger who are p in arms over the House bill by simply Googling HR 5034.

The bill is couched in language that makes it sound like an effort to better regulate interstate alcohol sales. Winemakers are saying that the bill is a product of lobbying by beer and alcohol wholesalers - middlemen who don't make any money when you buy wine directly from a winery (but would like to).

If you believe the winemakers, passage of HR 5034 will have two big effects. For the consumer it will mean that many fine wines become inaccessible for the average consumer because the market for those individual wines is too small for the wholesalers to care about. You'd have to buy that wine from a wholesaler (instead of directly from the winery) but the wholesaler is going to refuse to carry it. For the wine industry it will mean that many small wineries that rely on direct sales will simple disappear - and their families and employees will join the ranks of the unemployed.

I didn't find anyone in favor of the bill...