Canadian wines

[Innkeeper]

There is a huge distribution problem in the USA. The primary problem is not states, but distributors. Not that states are not part of the problem. The number of national and regional distributors in this country has shrunk dramatically in the last decade or two. As a result small wineries, even those in California, have a hard time moving their wines. When the state has severe restrictions, the problem worsens.

Take Pennsylvania for example. There are three or four dozen wineries in the state. Only one is large enough to attract a regional distributor. All wine and hard spirits are sold in state liquor stores. Their shelf space in most places can only handle a handful of locally produced wines. The largest only carries around twelve to eighteen. The state does not allow shipping, other than through distributors, OUT of the state. This leaves better than half of the PA wineries to their own resourses. They hang on by pushing their products on their own sites, and at festivals and other events.

This is true in one way or another for all other states except California, Washington, Oregon, and to a much lesser extent, New York.

Hotwine could tell you a Texas story that Pennsylvania pales before.

[This message has been edited by Innkeeper (edited 08-19-2002).]