I vote Jay Hack for SLA commissioner!
Gov Cuomo are you listening!!!
I don’t understand why you say this, since (I assume) you have a fairly large collection that could be sold if you wanted to, or, if you ever need to. To paraphrase the famous saying : “first they went after my wine, but I had no wine, so I didn’t care. Then they went after…”
+1.
Cuomo continues to put people in charge of the SLA that are trying to “level the playing field” for the poor little guys. Seriously, the most capitalist city in the US and they are trying to impose socialist ideals?
This stinks of the giant liquor houses taking their wine is a widget approach thinking that if they can stop this secondary chain of wine coming in to the restaurants that they will be able to sell more wine. The problem with that is the restaurants are bringing in wines that the liquor houses can’t supply, that’s why they are doing this in the first place! Just incredibly stupid and short-sided.
I think you underestimate how many NYC restaurants have their wine lists supplemented by collectors who have their wines on consignment.
Smacks more of corporatist fascism than socialism. Free markets my arse!
Yep. Rentier economy.
I think it’s a bad idea. Even if it effects only a few restaurants, they are the ones with the destination wine lists. Sure, maybe only a few people come to these places, but when they do, they probably stay for several days and then patronize other restaurants with good, but not off the charts wine lists. That’s good for wine drinkers in general and provides NYC with some restaurants with wine lists that cities like Dallas, Chicago, and even San Francisco can’t duplicate.
Second, if you are a collector of wine, even at a modest level, any closing of a possible market isn’t good for you and the value of your collection. Tastes change, people have health problems that cause them to reduce consumption, you end up with more than you can drink, too much in a ready to drink window, etc. There are all kinds of reasons that even people who collect wine to drink may choose, or even need to sell.
Definitely agree.
This attitude that this doesn’t affect me so what do I care is quite disconcerting. You have a government regulatory agency working with the business it’s suppose to be watching to help them reduce their competition and of course raise prices. Of course the irony is that the edict from the gov was to find ways to increase business and jobs in NY.
i also think you didn’t read the actual advisory because it applies to retailers as well as restaurants.
Hi Nick, welcome to the United States of America. This is our specialty.
Than you Yaacov. It’s nice to be welcomed.
I was at a Chinese lunch yesterday, and one of the guests was a state Senator. We discussed the topic, and she was relatively neutral on the subject, but very well informed, but listened to my arguments. I think it is time to actually make an appointment with my own state representatives who may be less informed; any Westchesterites want to join me?
I take offense to levi slamming massacdusettes right off the bat. I regularly purchase older wines from a distributor and it is completely legal in MA. I don’t do consignments but I seriously doubt the ABCC has the resources to enforce any law regarding private wine sales. This seems like a tax issue more then anything else.
I have had a significant amount of experience as a buyer for 3 star restaurants in both states.
Explain to me why I should care if NY restaurants have a more difficult time buying wines that they will mark up to ridiculous levels so that I cannot afford to buy them? When markups at NY restaurants become less insane, please come back and talk to me.
^ +1
Haters are going to hate. Yes there are some high markups at 3* restaurants-- guess what: those guys have prime real estate, spent millions on buildout, and employ tremendous staff for a relatively small number of guests. There also happen to be plenty of more casual places (like Pearl & Ash) where I’ve been able to drink some excellent wines that definitely came from private sources and were in many cases priced at or below retail.
But, if you want to go on believing that NYC is only for princelings and oligarchs and that there is no reasonably priced wine to be had please continue. It’s hard enough to get a good reservation these days.
The wine lists at Veritas and Cru would not have existed had this law been in place 15 years ago. Those two restaurants had unquestionably the best lists in NYC. Anyone who says those lists had ridiculous markups, is at best, uninformed.
Mark, I am with you, when portions of this law came around, I contacted Nita Lowy regarding something at the federal level, and she was less than interested, not even a chain letter from her staff.
Tell me what you need to do, and I can try to jump on board.