Arkansas Blog

Call Al Wiederkehr and ask him about all this and what hoops he's had to jump thru to sell the berry in his neck of the woods. You'll learn a lot and talking to Al is always an experience not soon forgotten.

That three tier system is incidious. Keeps prices high and many wineries don't want to mess with it.

Let Al ship his wines out, let wineries ship theirs in.

The law that prohibits the shipping in of out-of-state wine is ridiculous and restrains free trade. Arkansas's liquor laws have done nothing but make certain people rich.

One thing that direct shipping will also allow is for teenagers to order booze over the internet. All they need do is go to any bank and purchase a VISA gift card, get on their computer and order up whatever they want, and not just Arkansas wine, there are any number of web merchants selling the hard stuff too, just in time for prom night. In a couple of days the FedEx or UPS guy will drop it off on your doorstep, even in a dry county. Why doesn't one of the local TV stations do a story on that?

DBI -

If you think talking to Al is an experience, try working for him.

By the way, we should open the wine borders and let the good stuff flow freely - with shipping wine is rarely cheaper shipped in and only opens the market to smaller wineries. However, the liquor cartel(s) in LR have too much clout. On the bright side, we could be Mississippi, where the state has a monopoly on liquor distributorship.

"One thing that direct shipping will also allow is for teenagers to order booze over the internet."

Do you actually think any
teenager that wants alcohol
is unable to get it now?
Where have you been, under
a rock?

Government should not punish
law abiding citizens just because
some may abuse the law.

And no, I do not even drink
wine myself.

Considering wine is my adult beverage of choice this is important to me. For years now my good friends in Missouri order wine by mail since they have more freedoms up there. Back in the 90's when this was first enforced I could understand the arguments about lost taxes but that no longer holds water since internet ordering is set up to handle this established simple process.
I would much rather shop for anything in person close to home, even pay a little more for it. Arkansas liquor stores in general have a horrible selection of wine available, no palatable Sherry or Madeira for cooking or drinking. On a very rare occasion one can find an acceptable Port. If I taste a good wine and want to call a vineyard anywhere and order it, well I should be able to.
Even when a customer is ready to pay in advance for a specific order, AR liquor stores via their suppliers are not accommodating at all. They claim they cannot get the product even when I supply all contact and ordering info.
So why would a liquor lobby (or whatever) have any legitimate complaint about lost business when they can't or wont sell a product I could get by mail? They are not going to lose. I am sure Riceland doesn't hurt when I buy wild rice.
If I start a church would I be able to serve whatever wine God tells me to?

Yeah....I think most teenagers take the easy route and get someone's older brother or sister to buy the hooch. That's what we did and it's a lot faster than those Internets.

I rarely drink wine because it and Champaign make me behave like a criminal. I loves the sound of breaking glass and only married women with real tall husbands turn me on when I'm drinking fruit of the vine. I was dis-invited from ever returning to California in 1988......I'm still embarrassed!

But one time in my younger years I was hauling antiques to California with a buddy of mine and we ran into 2 very nice, but very gay Los Angeles decorators who lived in this giant round building...think the name was International Towers.

They drove a Rolls and I think their original idea was to snack on 2 young slim-hipped 20 year old boys from Arkansas. They invited us to a little shindig at their apartment overlooking Long Beach and since they were smaller than us and old old men of 40, my buddy and I decided to risk it.

I drove my 1968 Chevy truck almost into the side of the Queen Mary and then we took the right turn and wound up at this giant round apartment building...I think there were 2 of them just alike, or maybe that was the wine.

Feeling much like Jethro, we entered the party like we were walking onto our yacht...well, not really. But it was a very very nice bunch of people, no doubt lefty Democrats trash talkin Gerald Ford. No matter, the food and the view were fabulous!

Our 2 decorator friends introduced us to a little lady from across the hall who was 70 or 80 years old. They called her Auntie Mame and later told us she was a Seagram's heir. Now to get to the point!

All these fabulously rich people, including Auntie Mame were drinking 8 buck a gallon California wine and just raving about it. I don't know jack about wine except this stuff tasted very good and no wonder they were drinking it. People who drive a Rolls just delight in eating tuna fish and drinking cheap cheap wine.

Fortunately our decorator friends were gentlemen and they allowed us to have a wonderful time with the upper crust and never once patted either of us on our well formed behinds. It was a great experience that I'll never forget!

So it very well could be that Hollywood muckied-mucks savor a good bottle of Post or Wiederkehr wine. If they bottle it in gallons I know 2 old dandies in Long Beach that would probably order it by the truck load.

Wineries willing to ship wine into Arkansas require someone 21 or older sign for it. The Fed Ex guy looks at your driver's license just like the guy at the liquor store.

That's not a legitimate reason to prevent shipping into the state.

Did you see Philip Martin's mention of DBI in his Sunday column? I wonder if they are one and the same--they take 15 paragraphs to tell a 2 paragraph story. Please study Hemingway for brevity.

>>>One thing that direct shipping will also allow is for teenagers to order booze over the internet. <<<<<

hahahahahaha
What a PITA way to get drunk.
Easier to have your big sis buy it.

Arkansas liquor wholesalers are the worst kind of criminals. Their cartels both drive up the price and drive down the variety of wine you can buy in this state.

But they are powerful. I'm doubting any legislator has the nads to go up against them and truly open the wine market to the free market.

No one can or will touch them...they have a lock that maybe...just maybe Wal-mart might break 50 years from now.

If Arkansas winemakers could crank out a wine that we could differentiate from cough syrup, maybe they wouldn't feel threatened by out of state wineries. Their reluctance to allow shipments into the state only proves that they know the inferiority of their product.

Show some confidence...allow out of state wine into Arkansas and let the market decide. Or just keep cranking out Cabernet Robitussin. I guess if it'll make your head spin, there will be a market.

Deathbyinches,
I am a member of a wine club and I have visited most of the Arkansas wineries. Some of them have petitions that you can sign that are in favor of wine shipping into the state as well as out of state. It is not the wine industry in Arkansas opposed to wine shipping, it is the liquor wholesalers/distributors who are opposed to it because they want their "cut" of all wine or liquor that comes into the state. In fact, there have been many articles in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and other state newspapers over the past several years detailing the wineries' attempts to pass legislation which would allow reciprocal shipping rights, but those bills are always killed by the powerful lobbying arm of the Wholesale Liquor Association of America.

Friends don't let friends drink Arkansas wines.

>>

Exactly. I subscribe to a wine club and if my wife and I aren't home UPS comes back every day until we are and they always "card" us, even though we're clearly of age.

They also verify your age by your credit card and make you sign a statement online testifying you are of age.

You'll never catch me having anything good to say about Arkansas liquor wholesalers/distributors. It's a 75 year old racket/monopoly that is a black eye on the State of Arkansas. The Booze Mafia.

What is with Arkansas and it's restrictive ways? Talk about not having freedom!

It's simple! By restricting our ability to buy any kind of hooch from anyone other than the 2 or 3 big distributorship in Little Rock, it grants the owners of said distributorships the freedom to make fortunes that would make a Walton jealous.

If everyone in Arkansas who wanted a Ford had to buy it from one dealership, imagine what a Ford would cost if Acklin Ford off the freeway exit in Jacksonville was the only place you could buy one? Imagine the number of dump trucks it would take to haul the money to the bank each day?

I thought when old Teddy R., whipped Standard Oil back in the early 1900s the message to America was that monopolies were bad and illegal. Guess Arkansas missed that email.

And for the record, many Arkansas wine producers make a very good product. It's a simple fact that grapes like Cabernet, Pinot Noir and Chardonnay don't like the heat that an Arkansas summer can provide. Many Arkansas wines are very sweet because it's hot and the grape varieties that can survive that happen to produce a lot of sugar in that heat.

But if you have a chance, check out Chateau Aux Arc's Zinfandel (a red), Mt Bethel's blackberry or anything from Cowie Vineyards.

In the meantime, call/write your legislator!

We're being shafted. Gov. BB doesn't think we're smart enough to decide whether we should be able to buy wine on the internet. He is opposing the Arkansas winery efforts to allow shipping. Can we do anything? Does the gov. take calls? Does our opinion count?

For those of you concerned and willing to contact your Representative or Senator, you can find out what district you are in on your voters registration card.

The chances of wine being delivered to a minor are SLIM! Most younger adults do not even drink wine, I remember when I was 18 my drink of choice was Heinekin and my roommate had just turned 21 so she bought it for me. Wine is so much more sophisticated and not to mention more costly than beer. A neighbor of mine introduced me to a $9.00 bottle of wine on a Sunday, Ventage Merlot, and I fell in love. From that day forward I have tasted all sorts of wine, finding that my favorite are the dry selection. I personally drink the Chateau Aux Arc Chardonney, Cabernet, Merlot, and Red Zinfandel on a regular basis.

I have the pleasure of being involved in two of the Winery families on top of that mountain in Altus, Post and House (Chateau Aux Arc), and I hope that all of this works out to their benefit leaving the road open for new wineries. Please think of them and their family business's lively hood that they have been establishing from the oldest to the newest!

Keep up to date with the legislation and you will also find comments and documents prepared by the local wineries at: http://www.arkansaswinelegislation.org