Wine industry to lobby for direct-sale measure
03.07.2009, 19:45
Winery owners and others involved in the industry plan to travel to the Capitol on June 8 to urge state lawmakers to pass a bill that would allow them to sell their products directly to consumers in other states, as well as let New Yorkers buy wine directly from vineyards outside the state.
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Although a U.S. Supreme Court decision issued last week would seem to leave lawmakers little choice but to pass the bill -- if they don't, wine couldn't be shipped even to in-state residents -- an industry official said he doesn't want to take any chances.
"We thought it was going to pass before, but it didn't," said state Farm Bureau spokesman Peter Gregg. "We know there is well-organized and well-financed opposition. We want them to vote on this and vote on it quickly."
"It seems like a no-brainer to us," said Jim Trezise, president of the New York Wine and Grape Foundation.
"This is a major new opportunity for the New York wine industry to go national in terms of sales and reputation."
The Supreme Court ruled that states can't ban out-of-state wine deliveries while allowing them for in-state sales. So the state law has to be changed. Lawmakers have promised action before the end of the legislative session, which is now slated for June 23.
Gov. George E. Pataki and some lawmakers have pushed the idea of out-of-state sales and deliveries before, but they have been opposed by wine wholesalers and liquor-store owners, fearing they would lose business.
There were also issues of making it easier for underage drinkers to get alcohol delivered to their homes and assuring that the appropriate taxes would be collected, said Sen. Nicholas Spano, R-Yonkers, who has opposed direct-sale measures previously.
"Obviously we have to abide by the Supreme Court decision," Spano said Friday. "My goal is to pass a bill that will put in place a mechanism to prevent the sale of wine to minors. Obviously there's no protection against lying."
But he said purchasers should have to sign a statement saying they're over 21 when the wine is delivered.
The bill sponsors -- Sen. George Winner, R-Elmira, Chemung County, and Assemblyman Denny Farrell, D-Manhattan -- said they're working on changes to deal with concerns such as Spano's.
Trezise said the industry expects a big jump in sales because now people who visit vineyards and like the New York wine they taste can't order more when they get home.
"There's a lot of pent-up demand out there," he said.
The average New York small winery could expect a 20 percent increase in sales if they could sell directly to consumers in other states, according to a study by Vinquest, a national wine-industry consulting firm.
Trezise said he recently returned from judging a wine-tasting competition in California, where a white wine produced by the Goose Watch winery in Romulus along Seneca Lake won a top prize.
"There were 60 judges and many of them would have bought the wine, but they couldn't," Trezise said. "That's something we have to change."