Just returned from the Mosel Region

[Thomas]

...and so there is a conspiracy, but it is the government that perpetrates it, not the wine trade...

In the real old days, before government discovered the benefits of taxing wine, one could buy wine direct from a producer anywhere in the world, and have it shipped direct to one's home, without having to apply for a license. What we need is what the politicians keep saying they deliver--less government; what we get, of course, is more bull....not to mention taxes.