I have had e mails from several major wine merchants telling me that they will no longer ship to New York. We have had it pretty good up to now, as for the most part we have been able to buy where I want. Now I have lost some major suppliers, and I expect that my wine purchases, and those of other collectors will go down a lot over the next few years. At the same time, the K &Ls of the world have seen an instant reduction in their customer base, and by extension, revenues.
No fan of regulation generally, as states try as much as possible to protect the WSWA, all I see is a horribly fragmented industry, stupid prices in places where there is no competition like Tennessee, and miserable consumers. All bad, friends, all bad. Not sure how much we can do, but I see a bleak future ahead for us, unless we can counter what is going on.
Maybe this is what it takes for concerted efforts to be made (in NY at least) to change the laws for the betterment of individuals instead of the tiered distribution system. Of course I say that, but my faith in the political process isn’t exactly the greatest at the moment.
I don’t know NY, but if it’s like most other states, the distributors control the legislature. Typically a legislative change will appear to be close to the finish line, but then magically fail - usually via “neglect” rather than open opposition by legislators. The distributors often use the argument that it is a public safety issue regarding children and limiting their access to alcohol. And, at that point, who in their right mind can be against protecting children??? Because, we all know there is a huge underground market for kids dealing in expensive wine to get drunk…
No you are making drastic changes to the supply chain, which will impact demand as it screws the buyer. Each state will become its own little market, and if the market is isolated like Tennessee, prices will rise, consumers will buy less wine and pay more. I chose Tennessee, because I remember ten years ago, a friend who ran a wholesale business in TN, and his WHOLESALE prices were 50% higher than I could buy retail in NY. We already have it to some extent, but it’s not being as actively enforced as it is now.
Imagine how much less product becomes available,when you can’t buy wine from another state. You can only buy from licensed people within the state, and then you will probably only able to buy on the primary market. Older wines, rare wines heavily allocated wines, no more. And you cannot buy from auction, so the whole of the secondary market is lost to you. That is a contracting market, and a disaster in the making.
I have been scrambling to buy at auction and online all the older wines which I dearly love,
while they remain not only dirt cheap, but also permissible for the merchants even to ship.
Mark, you are unfortunately right.
As Mark states, this is going to be a problem. I would be ok with only being able to buy from NYS retailers if inventory was as it is currently. But as more states put in restrictions (as seems likely), the market shrinks for all retailers. If a retailer can only sell to their own state, they will limit stock and raise prices. I don’t buy from out of state so much based on price as on getting things I can’t find in NY.
Yeah I’ve been watching this too, and even though I’m in a state so far unaffected, it’s going to hurt eventually as the NY/NJ/DC places I like have to charge more and carry a smaller lineup.
Perhaps this is a sign from the Almighty that we need to buy less wine.
Maybe Tom Wark can give us some insight as to how well the battle against the states and US government has gone over the last 10 or so years. He’s been working in the trenches on a limited budget as there aren’t enough retailers, us included who can afford or are willing to support the cause.
Considering all the social and legal changes occurring in this country over the past decade or so, it’s really surprising that the issue of adults having free access to this one particular category of legal products is getting much harder rather than easier.
What you are experiencing is called “Canada”. Illegal to ship province to province. Distribution largely run by provincial governments leading to poor selection and even worse pricing. I feel for you. This is my reality.