Ep 206: Tom Wark on the Messy Politics of US Wine Shipping

Wine for Normal People

Alcohol, Lifestyle, Arts, Education, Food, Wine, Dining, Grapes

4.6 • 1.5K Ratings

🗓️ 10 November 2017

⏱️ 51 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Tom Wark, executive director of the National Association of Wine Retailers (Winefreedom.org), wine PR guru, and author of Fermentation Wine Blog gives a fascinating look at the history of US wine law, current inane laws (unconstitutional) on interstate wine shipping, and the ripple effects for wine producers, importers, and drinkers.

*Note: This issue is not a democrat v republican issue, so if you fear this will be a partisan conversation, both sides are restricting consumer rights and there is no discussion of party politics in the show.

Even if you are not an American listener, the history and politics of the world's biggest market (by volume) and the restrictive environment in which wine is sold will shock and amaze you.

Here are some of the issues we tackle in the conversation:

1.The issues with retailers shipping between states and why consumers and retailers and hamstrung by regulation

2. The historical background -- from the 1700s to today on how the US became so protectionist about alcohol. Nerdy details include..

Why the current laws violate the spirit of the Articles of Confederation and then the Constitution of the United States
The Pre- and Post- Prohibition eras, Constitutional Amendments and a violation of the Commerce Clause of the US Constitution
Granholm v. Heald, a 2005 case that should have resolved this and why it didn't
Implications for consumers, retailers, small producers, and importers, and why we need to use our voices to stop the politics

3. A discussion of "the money" and why the Wholesalers rule our choice in every state.

4. The New York Times article by Eric Asimov and why New York and New Jersey retailers may soon be suffering.

5. What's next? What can we do to promote free trade and help the mission here? The essential mission American consumers have and the importance of signing up for Winefreedom.org and getting our voices heard!

And finally, an invitation from Tom -- if you know any state legislators in the US, contact him!

Transcript

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0:00.0	Thanks for
0:08.0	downloading Wine for Normal People Radio,
0:10.0	the podcast for people who like wine but not the snobbery that goes with it.
0:14.0	I'm Elizabeth Schneider, a certified Silmaier and certified specialist of wine.
0:20.0	And I'm MC Ice, just a wine-loving normal person.
0:23.0	Today on the podcast, we have Tom Wark, a man whose work I have followed for years.
0:30.0	This is the first time we've actually connected live but he is in Northern California
0:35.0	native who began his career as a wine marketer and publicist in 1990. In
0:39.2	1994 he opened his own consultancy, Work Communications.
0:44.0	And it serves small and medium-sized wineries
0:46.6	with media communications marketing services.
0:48.9	He has a master's in diplomatic history.
0:51.2	I'm gonna have to hear about that. He is an advocate for wine
0:55.1	consumer rights, rights of wineries, retailers to ship to have access to a free market.
1:03.8	Oh my goodness, could you imagine that?
1:06.9	He is the executive director specialty wine retailers
1:11.0	association and writes the fermentationmentation blog the Daily Wine
1:14.7	blog he's had it since 2004 it's an excellent blog definitely subscribe to it
1:18.6	founded the Wine Blog Awards in 2007 helped launch the Wine Bloggers Conference in 2008, publishes the SIDER
1:26.0	Journal, and is also the executive director for the National Association of Wine Retailers.
1:31.5	We are going to talk all about these violations as I call them
1:36.1	and I think of them and I think you do too of consumer rights in the United States
	...

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