Write Your Legislature
Tuesday, June 21, 2005

Follow the link below to send a fax to our Michigan legislature regarding direct shipment of wine.

http://www.capwiz.com/freegrapes/mail/oneclick_compose/?alertid=7618191

State rep Chris Ward from Brighton is in the pockets of the distribution lobby, he received money in his last election campaign and what do you know, Chris has created a bill to block direct shipments. He likes to go on and on about protecting minors from ordering over the internet but thats not the issue here, its the lost revenues the wholesalers would experience. The wholesalers would like you to believe this would bankrupt them but come on, everyone knows people will still go to the store to buy their wine, they will use the internet for ones they cannot find. This rep is a sleazeball but I sent him an email expressing my opinion. If I don't get a response, my next one will call him out and slam him against the wall. Below is the email I sent.

Dear Mr. Ward,

I am contacting you regarding your opposition to internet wine sales which I completely disagree with. For starters, there are no studies published that show minors obtain alcohol over the internet unless you want to count the one manufactured by the Distribution lobby. You honestly want me to believe that up to 10% of minors are buying alcohol over the internet? Both you and I know this is ridiculous, 26 states already allow direct shipping, are there numbers that prove these states that allow have higher underage drinking? If you want hard cold facts, the wholesalers in Michigan are 100% responsible for all our underage drinking since alcohol bought here goes through their hands. 2nd, the poll conducted by the Coalition for a Safe and Responsible Michigan was paid for by the Michigan Wholesalers Association, talk about a conflict of interest. I have reviewed the poll and it starts off with a negative tone on the first question to demonize alcohol and to setup the second question to fail.

I have been drinking wine for a number of years now and finding smaller vineyards has become a passion of mine. Last year my wife and I took a trip to Napa Valley for our anniversary where we sampled a number of great wines but could not ship them back. One wine we brought back with us was from Rutherford Hills and was their Zinfandel Port. You can find this vineyard in most stores, the port on the other hand is nowhere to be found. I am in Oakland county and have visited nearly every higher end wine store in my area but no one has it. I could order it but that means the wine store needs to contact their distributor who will then decide whether its worth it or not to order. They in turn will mark up the price to cover their costs in acquiring the bottle of port I am interested in and most likely require me to purchase a number of bottles versus just one. The price of the port is $50 and you do not finish this in one sitting. What minor will spend $50 on a bottle of wine, this is not what minors are interested in drinking. If I was allowed to order over the internet, I could order my one bottle, pay the shipping costs, sign for it and be all set. Explain to me why the distributors need to touch every bottle of alcohol that comes through the state? I will continue to buy the majority of my wine in stores, its not cost effective to purchase it all over the internet, just the bottles that I cannot find in any store.

Michigan continues to lose jobs and people to outsourcing, by banning all direct sales, you are adding to this problem. We have a number of vineyards along I-94 and up in Traverse City who rely on this method. Why kill a budding industry, is it to keep the distributors happy? Are they upset since they are unable to make a profit off of these sales? Think of the tourism dollars that can be made off of the wine industry here in Michigan, people will come just they they visit Napa Valley and the Finger Lakes region of New York, sample the wine, bring a few bottles back home and then order more over the internet. Try going to another state that does not allow for direct shipping and find a bottle of Michigan wine, I bet you would be hard pressed to do so.

In conclusion, please take my opinion into consideration, I am a law abiding, tax paying Michigan resident who would like to have the same rights as most in this country.

Sincerely,

Randy Sutton
Berkley, MI

Posted by mardenhill 6/21/2005 01:58:00 PM    

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