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[mrdutton]

We have 3 fairly decent wine merchants in Virginia Beach and one of them is a grocery store.

None of them has any of the wine I am looking for and each has begged off trying to find it because: (1) I don't bring any volume to them and (2) They feel they won't get any help from their distributor.

Of course, as it turns out, their distributor is the same company out of Richmond. It appears that that one distributor has this region "locked" up, captured in the barrel if you will.

That makes me angry because as a consumer I have no more legal options.

This has nothing to do with collecting taxes on the sale. When I purchase something over the internet, chances are that the company already is voluntarily collecting sales taxes from various states - Virginia always seems to be one of them. If the company doesn't collect Virginia sales tax, then as an honest citizen I am compelled by Virginia law to report my out of state, untaxed purchases each year and pay the appropriate 4.5% sales tax.

One of the local wine merchants, the frustration clearly present on his voice, indicated that the distributors in this state just have too much money and presence in Richmond - apparently in the pockets of our esteemed members of the Virginia legislature.

His thought is that we won't see an open market in Virginia at least in his lifetime. He is my age. Now that really frustrates me.

Letters are on the way to Richmond and to Washington, DC. At least I'll have the pleasure of letting my elected officials know about my displeasure.