Why are American wine producers drunk with happiness all of a sudden?
Why are American wine producers drunk with happiness all of a sudden? The Supreme Court just voted by a 5-4 margin to lift a long-standing ban on direct wine purchases from one state to another. In other words, if you live in New York, you can now order your favourite Napa Valley cabernet on the internet and have it sent to your house from California rather than wait for your local wine shop to stock it. Until now, direct sales were only permitted in-state – and even then not everywhere around the country. The change is good news for wine producers, especially the smaller ones who don’t have the marketing clout to get their products into the supermarkets and larger retail chains. Many have had to turn down requests from would-be consumers; now they expect to double, or even triple or quadruple, their sales volume. Tim Meinken of the Sapphire Hill winery in Healdsburg, northern California, told the San Francisco Chronicle: “We think it’s the greatest thing since the wine bottle was inve
