Spirits wholesalers losing under three-tier regulatory framework

By |2025-06-17T02:07:21+00:00June 17th, 2025|Liquor Industry Insights|

 

Spirits wholesalers are being taken to the woodshed by the beer wholesalers. The recent news that RNDC lost key accounts in California was shocking and influenced RNDC’s decision to leave the largest consumer market in the country. Significantly, Reyes Beverage Group (Reyes), the largest beer wholesaler benefited by landing many of these key accounts formerly […]

By |2025-06-15T20:43:01+00:00June 15th, 2025|Liquor Industry Insights|

 

Will the Real Oregon please stand up

News broke Friday that the Oregon Ethics Commission voted 7-1 to increase former director of the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission Steve Marks fine from $500 to $1,500. All this stems from the allocation of Pappy Van Winkle bottles for himself and other privileged individuals.

By […]

Oregon’s Alcohol Enforcement Charade

By |2025-06-05T15:05:20+00:00June 5th, 2025|Liquor Case Discussion|

 

In early May the news came out that the Oregon Government Ethics Commission (Ethics Commission) rejected a negotiated deal for $500 with former executive director of the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission (OLCC), Steve Marks. Under Marks watch an investigation determined that rare bottles of Pappy Van Winkle that were supposed to be available only […]

Granholm at 20 Series

By |2025-05-15T20:56:21+00:00May 15th, 2025|Liquor Industry Insights|

 

Happy Birthday Granholm

May 16th is the 20th  anniversary of Granholm, twenty years later I look at how Granholm has impacted the marketplace.

Granholm’s legacy

The Supreme Court victory in Granholm was one of the greatest things to happen to the wine industry. The growth in wineries has been massive […]

El Nacimiento Medals at The San Francisco World Spirits Competition

By |2025-05-09T15:33:24+00:00May 9th, 2025|Breaking News|

 

El Nacimiento Tequila earned medals at the world’s most prestigious spirits competition, The San Francisco World Spirits Competition. 

Earning Silver were El Nacimiento Anejo and Blanco and earning Bronze was El Nacimiento Reposado.

This is the first spirits competition that our portfolio was entered into since I took an ownership interest in the brand. Next time hoping […]

White Sox fan becomes Pope!

By |2025-05-09T15:06:32+00:00May 9th, 2025|Liquor Case Discussion|

Rarely do I post on non-liquor issues, but today is special as the Good Lord allowed me to live long enough to see a White Sox fan and a fellow south side born Chicagoan to become Pope!

It brings me back to Catholic Grammar School to the first Pope I had an affinity to Pope John […]

Granholm at 20 Series

By |2025-05-09T00:48:59+00:00May 9th, 2025|Irish Liquor Lawyer Interviews|

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMSJoPjIM2c
The Architect of Granholm
In my latest installment of the Granholm at 20 series, I sat down with Professor Alex Tanford. Along with his partner Bob Epstein they took on the winery shipping cases and changed the legal world forever. Alex and I look back on the journey that led to victory in Granholm and […]

Granholm at 20 Series

By |2025-05-04T21:25:40+00:00May 4th, 2025|Liquor Industry Insights|

 

 

The Legislative rollbacks

Victory in Granholm led to a massive growth in interstate winery shipping. Before Granholm DTC wine shipping was available in 27 states, when winery shipping becomes legal in Mississippi that number will stand at 48 states.[1]

Granholm became the dominant force in the expansion of winery direct shipping […]

Run-down of Illinois legislation

By |2025-04-30T16:27:05+00:00April 30th, 2025|Legislation|

 

Summary

The Illinois legislature adjourns on May 31st, so the next couple of weeks will determine what fails and what becomes law. Before the session heats up, I wanted to provide a synopsis of the major liquor bills.

Before I get into individual bills, I wanted to provide an introduction to what I am seeing. […]

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