MESSAGE TO ABC NEWS

[Jerry D Mead]

The attached is a press release from the organization known as FREE THE GRAPES. You can contact its Exec. Director at: benson@jbwines.com

Subj: Fwd: Wholesaler Lobby Dupes Press, Public
Date: 3/10/99 2:09:54 PM Pacific Standard Time
From: fedup@freethegrapes.org (fedup)
To: winetrader@aol.com

>>FYI, sent out earlier today to national media outlets and wine trades.
>>
>>Wine Wholesaler Lobby Dupes Press,
>>Public about Direct Wine Sales to Minors
>>
>>March 10, 1999, NAPA, Calif. Jeremy Benson, Executive Director of Free
the Grapes!, commented today on the recent misrepresentation of the wine
industry as “bootleggers” when wine is directly shipped across state
borders to consumers. Free the Grapes! is a national, non-profit coalition
of 145,000 wine consumers and associations representing over 1,000 of
America’s winemakers whose goal is to ensure access to fine wine.
>>
>>This issue is not about minors. These false and misleading claims seek
to protect the profits of an entrenched state-sanctioned monopoly that no
longer has the financial incentive to distribute for small family-owned
wineries. The wholesaler lobby has attempted in numerous forums, including
a United States Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on March 9th, to portray
the wine industry as a “bogeyman” handing out wine to teens through home
delivery.
>>
>>The wholesaler lobby turns a blind eye to direct shipping when it doesn’t
cross state lines. In fact, intrastate delivery is legal in 30 states.
The Americans for Responsible Alcohol Access (ARAA), a self-proclaimed
‘safety coalition’ which is fully-funded by the wholesaler lobby, has been
noticeably silent regarding intrastate deliveries. ‘Any shipment that
crosses a state border outside (the existing) system is illegal’, (ARAA
press release March 9, 1999). Are we supposed to believe that a shipment
from Los Angeles to San Francisco isn’t a threat to minors, but from L.A.
to Phoenix it is?
>>
>>In states where interstate direct shipping is legal, minor access has not
been a problem. Manny Espinoza, Chief Deputy Director of the California
Department of Alcohol Beverage Control, stated in written testimony to the
Senate Judiciary Committee, ‘… We have to date witnessed no measurable
adverse effects on public welfare or safety that could be attributable to
interstate mail order alcohol sales.’
>>
>>Katherine Harris, Former Florida State Senator and current Florida
Secretary of State, has also spoken out against making a mockery of the
issue of underage access in defense of self-serving business interests.
‘It was inappropriate for the lobbyists of the distributors and wholesalers
to manipulate the Students Against Drunk Drivers (SADD) into pleading their
case.’ (April 2, 1998).
>>

>>Since 1963 the number of wineries in the U.S. has exploded from almost
400 to nearly 1,800. Yet during the same time period the number of
wholesalers available to distribute product for wineries shrunk from nearly
11,000 to less than 3,000. The wine wholesalers mistakenly fear that
direct shipping is an effort to dismantle the existing wine distribution
system. On the contrary, direct shipping allows small family-owned
wineries to satisfy growing consumer demand for their wines, which are
often not available in their local markets because they are not stocked by
wholesalers.