Private label wine in jeopardy?

WINE TALK
1

Thoughts on this legal decison? Appears that many private label wines will cease to exist if this is enforceable.

http://www.beveragelaw.com/blog/visual-links-between-beer-wine-and-spirits-labels-and-retailers-ruled-unlawful-in-california-the-tied-house-laws-run-amok/

2

I can’t imagine this holding up.

The questions in the follow up section of the article were apt.

3

thanks for the link, Karen

4

i don’t think it’s going to be such a big deal, although the interpretation is asinine. But a place like BevMo sells private label wine almost exclusively. They sprinkle a few more widely distributed names here and there but pretty much sell stuff that you will never find anywhere else. Ditto Trader Joe - they have “Trader Joe’s” wine but they also sell the Charles Shaw stuff that has no visual link. Total also sells a lot of private label stuff.

So in the end, it’s going to have a limited effect. Doesn’t make it any less ridiculous though.

5

Limited effect? Do you realize how
Much these three companies alone sell in private label? Far more than most wine companies do in total.

6

Exactly. My point is that private label doesn’t have to mean it has the house name on it. Thus, no visual link.

We used to sell a lot of private label stuff under a number of different names but I can’t remember any with the name of the retailer. E.g., Sears can sell a private label appliance or tool called Kenmore or Craftsman. I don’t think BevMo has a label called BevMo, but they have dozens of private labels, none of which will be affected as far as I can see.