SHEER LUNACY

1933 IS ALIVE AND WELL

      Did you know that your elected General Assembly is denying you the right to drink the wines of your choice? True, any one member of the Assembly would probably deny that, but chances are he or she doesn’t really realize it. Still, there’s no other way to say it: our General Assembly is keeping 95% of all wines out of Indiana. They are doing so by legislating that wines sold in Indiana must be selected by distributors (wholesalers) who pass them on to retailers, a system adopted in the 1930s after the repeal of Prohibition. Laws governing our consumption of wine in Indiana date to 1933.

      Think of it. 1933. When Prohibition ended, I traveled in a Model-A Ford. Most roads were not paved. Those cars had no amenities such as air conditioning. We were cautioned about installing radios in cars because they might distract our driving. Times were different then. Fortunately we’ve advanced in many ways since those times.

      The American society that created today’s laws governing the sale of alcoholic beverages also advocated racial segregation, denied women many jobs and church positions, and barred non-whites the right to play Major League Baseball. Times were different then. Fortunately, we’ve advanced in many ways since those times.

      Where we haven’t advanced is in the sale and distribution of America’s most popular and most healthful beverage – wine. The same people who denied little minority children access to good schools created a monopoly for wholesalers, which has since been found unconstitutional in various courts, most recently by the U.S. District Court in Indianapolis less than a year ago.

      Admittedly, some legislation has nibbled around the edges of wine sales, and we can now buy wine in many grocery stores, can drink a glass of wine in a restaurant on Sunday, and can buy wine directly from farm wineries provided we satisfy a host of regulatory red tape. But it is still the General Assembly, by virtue of granting this monopoly to wholesalers, that determines the wine your family, friends, and colleagues can enjoy. It must also be said that it is the wholesalers who convince our legislators that Hoosiers are not as responsible as citizens of 35 other states in the purchasing and distribution of a beverage praised in religion and art for centuries. Wholesalers would have punished the innkeeper and his famous Guest in Cana some 2,000 years ago.

      So why doesn’t somebody do something about it, something to bring wine consumption into the age of the Internet or even the postal service? Somebody is, and that somebody needs a lot of help.

      VinSense, Inc. is hard at work to convince legislators to annul this monopoly and open up the wine market to free trade in keeping with provisions of the Commerce Clause. (Check the website for detailed information: www.vinsense.org) VinSense has 3,000 voting members and is growing. VinSense opposes underage consumption of alcohol and supports the state’s right to collect all appropriate taxes relative to wine sales. VinSense has drafted legislation, currently en route to every member of the General Assembly, making clear its positions on underage drinking and tax collection. The organization recognizes a need for wholesale services; but its members merely want the right to use post Prohibition-era communication technology – the Internet, e-mail, fax, phone, along with the postal service, to obtain products that the General Assembly and the wholesalers deny us.

 I doubt that our Senators and Representatives still drive a Model-A, support racial segregation, or worry about a radio in their cars. Perhaps they will re-consider and bring wine purchasing and distribution laws up to date. It wouldn’t hurt for each reader to insist that they do so.

 

 

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            Subscribers to Sheer Lunacy are automatically members of VinSense, but we urge all of you to enlist more members (read: voters). Membership is free. The easiest way to join is via the VinSense web site – www.vinsense.org -- where you can also read about opportunities to donate to VinSense to help cover costs of lobbying, maintaining the web site, and furthering the cause. We would like 10,000 voter-members by the end of 2008.      

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   Vintage Story is an e-newsletter authored by Ole Olson and published by the Story Inn, and is available free of charge to all who appreciate good wine. Vintage Story is published at each full moon. The author and the Story Inn specifically authorize the republication, reprinting and circulation of any issue Vintage Story so long as due credit is given to the author and to the Story Inn (which holds the copyright). If any newspaper or website desires to make use of any issue of Vintage Story, we do request that you notify us. Thanks, and here's to your health!

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