Tom Wark at Fermentation is once again holding their feet to the fire - that is the well heeled feet of the W.S.W.A., the Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of America. Take some time to read Tom’s latest exposé HERE

Tom clearly points out the evil in this organization by identifying the key personnel of the W.S.W.A. staff as former lobbyists of the National Rifle Association, Big Tobacco and Big Drugs. It’s hard to imagine a sleazier or more adept team and we should be afraid of them.

As many of you know, my real job is to produce and sell wine. Our wines are represented by distributors in nineteen states and not one of them belongs or has any interest in the W.S.W.A. - no wine distributor that really cares about the wines they sell is seriously involved with this organization primarily financed by vodka.

As a small wine producer, it would never occur to me to not work primarily with our distributor network. This has nothing to do with the mandated three tier system. I would work through our distributors anyway, as they do outstanding work on our behalf. They present our wines, educate consumers and trade on our philosophy and maintain an inventory of our wines to support their market. I would never consider not working with any distributor who does such fine work - with or without the three tier system.

So why is the W.S.W.A so paranoid? It’s because most of their members are incompetent when it comes to selling fine wine and only truly care about spirits - where the big bucks really are.

They should be afraid, because without three tier laws they would have no reason to exist for any fine wine producer.