Champagne ? with a twist?

Forget the debates over terroir, dosage and disgorgement dates–Champagne Lanson is advertising their “white label” Champagne as going great with lemon. (photo thanks to David Lebovitz.) Well, at least they don’t put the lemon in the drink for you: Courvoisier took the inconvenience out of mixing cognac and Moscato blending 18% abv “Courvoisier Gold” (I’ll [...]

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/GuSC/~3/Kd2CI9SbSys/

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TasteCamp East:Bloggers Arrive in the Finger Lakes

This is one of my favorite times of the year.  I’m fortunate enough to be included on the list of wine bloggers and writers who get asked to attend TasteCamp East, organized by Lenn Thompson and Evan Dawson at The New York Cork Report. Last year, Long Island Wine Country hosted our group and although [...]

Source: http://familylovewine.wordpress.com/2010/05/06/tastecamp-eastbloggers-arrive-in-the-finger-lakes/

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Wine-derful

Judges completed the first day of tasting the finest vintages the wine world has to offer at the 70th Los Angeles International Wine & Spirits Competition. Stepping into the Millard Sheets Center for the Arts, where judging is taking place, the aroma is musky, flowery, fruity, nutty. Pretty powerful! Judges gather around round tables comparing [...]

Source: http://blogs.fairplex.com/blog/wine/?p=62

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TMiW 1 ? Looking Back, Looking Forward

This is the premier episode of This Month in Wine, a monthly discussion about what is going on within the wine world from a consumer and insider perspective. Hosts: Tim Elliott and Jeff Lefevere Topics What?s up with Good Grape? Is wine blogging on the decline? Wine Trends & Predictions for 2012 Value Replaces Cheap [...]

TMiW 1 – Looking Back, Looking Forward originally appeared on Winecast. Licensed under Creative Commons.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Winecast/~3/G2HGzSDlbQM/

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Wine of the Month Club

Are you interested in wine? Do you find that wine stores are too stuffy and pretentious for you to have an enjoyable shopping experience? If so, finding a quality wine of the month club might be a good fit for you to not only learn about wine, but also to have some truly outstanding wine [...]

Source: http://winewithmark.info/archives/670

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Last Chance for Massachusetts Direct Wine Shipment Bill

Boston State House
Photo by James Trosh

A bill that would enable wineries to ship directly to Massachusetts residents appears to be down to its last out with nobody on in the bottom of the 9th inning. And 2 strikes against it with nobody interested in coming to the plate. With the end of the 2012 legislative season coming soon and lawmakers are focused on other action.

Sound bleak? It is.

From Free the Grapes:

HB 1029, a positive direct shipping bill, was put on a second ?extension order? in May for consideration later in the year. But industry representatives warn that the bill will be shelved unless it moves by the end of this month. There appears to be support for the bill if it can get a vote in the Assembly and Senate. But a squabble over unrelated bills stymies progress.
This situation should sound familiar to Massachusetts wine enthusiasts. It's the same thing that happened to HB 4497 in 2010 which would have similarly enabled direct shipments.

It's getting a little comical (in a tragic way) that the state still isn't in compliance with a 2010 Federal Court ruling that the state's current laws, which restrict shipments from any winery producing more than 30,000 gallons, were unconstitutional.

HB 1029 would bring the state into compliance with that court order, but more importantly it would bring common sense to a situation that's currently non-sensical.

The bill would address onerous restrictions currently in place that make it cost-prohibitive for carriers like FedEx and UPS to ship wine into the state. It would also outline how wineries obtain a license to ship directly and how they remit taxes to the state.

But most importantly, to me, it would prioritize the interests of the citizens of the state over wholesalers.

The tension in this situation lies between Massachusetts wholesalers, out of state wineries, and Massachusetts wine enthusiasts. But every citizen of the Commonwealth would benefit from direct shipments. Here's why...

When a wine enthusiast in Massachusetts wants to buy a specific wine directly from an out of state winery it's because that wine isn't available at retail in Massachusetts. Every bottle of wine sold in Massachusetts, whether it be at retailer or in restaurants, needs to pass through a Massachusetts distributor.

When a wine isn't available, the consumer doesn't substitute that wine with a similar bottle which is available from in-state retailers. The consumer usually decides to go to great lengths to have the wine shipped to a neighboring state with more sensible direct shipment laws.

Like New Hampshire. Which famously doesn't have sales tax, but shrewdly (and aggressively) collects 8% tax on direct wine shipments on top of charging wineries hefty annual fees for the right to ship to the state.

Did you catch what happened there? Our laws generated a nice bump of revenue for a neighboring state and inconvenienced Massachusetts residents. And every Massachusetts citizen lost revenue.

Making matters worse, Massachusetts retailers aren't allowed to ship wine out of state. Thanks to this restriction, state wholesalers are missing what could be a healthy boost in business. And every citizen is missing out on collecting excise tax as wine passes through the distributor.

All of this fighting is just about winery direct shipments. It doesn't cover retailer direct shipments which would be even more advantageous to Massachusetts wine enthusiasts, and an even larger source of revenue for the state.

Look at Virgina for an example of how this should be done. Since changing their laws to allow direct shipments they now enjoy a revenue stream of over $3 million dollars a year. Next time someone mentions a state budget deficit I suggest they consider this opportunity.

On his Fermentation wine blog, Tom Wark points out this retailer restriction:

The bill is in fact not a very good one. Under its provisions, consumers in the state would be prohibited from having imported wines shipped to them from out of state. That means no French, Italian, German, Austrian, Spanish or any other imported wines could be ordered by consumers since the bill does not allow out of state retailers to ship into the state. Rather, only out-of-state wineries would have the privilege.
I agree the bill doesn't go far enough. But it's a step in the right direction and one that Governor Patrick said he would sign if it came to his desk.

So let's do the right thing and get this bill passed.

Right now it's stuck in the Committee on Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure. When the committee heard arguments on it two years ago I was in attendance. This bill was just one item of many related to alcohol the committee was considering, and the speakers were primarily lobbyists from both sides.

I stopped by and talked to Representative Theodore Speliotis after the hearing. I think he was surprised to see a consumer at the meeting. I was disappointed there was no decisions or even meaningful discussion for the most part at the meeting. I explained to him my interest in receiving direct shipments of wine and asked him what I could do. He recommended I send him and others a message of support for this bill.

Our representatives needs to hear directly from us. So here's your call to action:

Visit the Free the Grapes website to send an email to Representative Speliotis and others explaining why you favor the direct shipment of wine.

Do it now. Thank you.


Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/WellesleyWinePress/~3/BXyybyXGmq8/last-chance-for-massachusetts-direct.html

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