Roughly around 1637 Rene Descartes espoused the philosophical maxim, “I think; therefore I am.” Mr. Descartes’ first principle of philosophy was a principle of certainty. Pursuant to this principle, he could not doubt that he existed. Not bad that he had found certainty in his first philosophical principle.
Three-hundred and eighty-six years later, the liquor world […]
I am shocked and saddened to hear of Rocky Wirtz’s passing, a true gentleman and a great person. As a state regulator I had numerous meetings with Rocky Wirtz and his leadership team. He was always fair, honest, and treated you with the greatest respect.
As a big Blackhawks fan, I thank him for building back […]
The TTB entered into a public comment period seeking recommendations from industry members on potential reforms and updates to the TTB’s trade practice policies. The TTB’s opening of comments to the Trade Practice Policies reflects a more active role in the federal government shaping the alcohol industry. In the recent past the U.S Treasury drafted […]
WSWA responded to assertions in Roger Morris’ article, “Does the three-tier system in the US still have legs?” that the three-tier system is archaic and prevents consumers choice. Mainly, assertions were made that WSWA’s efforts at preventing DTC shipping were hurting consumer choice and were not preventing the evils of underage access to […]
Wine faces a threat it may not see coming around the corner. The unholy alliance of the trial lawyer bar and overzealous government bureaucrats threatens serious damage to the industry’s future. The good news is a lot of this can be defeated if the wine interest wakes up and decides it’s time to fight.
Two existential […]
Wisconsin’s new legislation, SB 332, includes legal principles that are so out of the ordinary that when these principles were introduced into law in Illinois, they couldn’t get past step 1 in the legislative process and died a quick death.
The legal faux pas in the legislation derive from the Uniform Law Commission’s work on the […]
California is notorious for implementing business regulations that make no sense. These regulations are costly for market participants and raise the cost to do business there. This once great state is seeing something I thought unimaginable in my lifetime, more native-born people leaving than entering the state.
I guess unaware of this trend, my father’s country […]
The FTC, which set its sights on Southern Wine and Spirits is now requesting information from Total Wine and More (Total). Total according to Law360.com, objected to a civil investigative demand from the FTC on numerous grounds. The FTC is requesting voluminous amounts of data on Total’s dealings with distributors. There has been no indication […]
Blue Cloud by its simple presence is sending tremors through the liquor establishment. Nothing demonstrates this more than the rush of legislation to attack them directly.
In Illinois, my state of expertise, two bills seem inspired by this new Blue Cloud phenomenon.
SB2433 deals mainly with non-alcohol merchandise being involved in the sale of alcohol. The […]
“Those who attempt to level, never equalize.” The great Irish philosopher Edmund Burke.
Many in the industry may be delighted by Southern Glazer’s Wine and Spirts (Southern) becoming the target of a FTC investigation, but before drawing your conclusion, one should think about what the implications of the FTC’s action are and […]