Peter J. Abbate Jr.: Plan to expand wine outlets is wrong on two counts

Mr. Abbate,  Jr. represents the 49th Assembly District in Brooklyn, NY.  He wrote a guest editorial for the Buffalo News on the topic of why he is against selling wine in grocery stores.

"So from a jobs perspective, and economic development perspective, this plan doesn’t measure up. Any plan that reduces jobs and doesn’t deliver real economic growth is simply a non-starter.

Clearly, we also have an obligation to first “do no harm” as it relates to our teenagers. Our young people face enormous challenges today, much more than when I was growing up, and they need our help and support. Because this plan would make wine more accessible to teenagers, it must be rejected.

Wine is not a food and it is not beer. Wine has three to four times more alcohol in it than beer. And we know from a Columbia University study that teenage girls who have tried alcohol would rather drink wine than beer if given a choice. That’s a recipe for trouble.

New York already spends $3.2 billion every year to deal with the impacts of underage drinking, from accidents and violence, to teen pregnancies and diseases. In fact, officials at the State Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services say that underage drinking is the No. 1 substance abuse problem in New York State today.

It is a hard truth that teens will have an easy time getting wine if it’s available in every deli, gas station, bodega and corner store, rather than limited to small, owner-operated wine and liquor stores. That is where it belongs and where it should stay."

Read the entire article here >> 

Winegate!!

The truth is coming to light and all indications are that New York Governor Paterson has yet another scandal shaping up in his administration.  In the following press release it appears that the State Division of Budget killed an economic impact study that was scheduled to be done by the State Law Revision Commission.  This study was already funded by $200,000.00, said commission chairman Robert Pitler under oath, which is in direct contrast to the commission report which said that no study was done specifically because there was no funding for it.  It appears that the final report was doctored to hide the truth and cover up the deception.

This is pretty serious stuff, and may just be the tip of the iceberg on corruption and big money lobbyists trying to deceive the public and the legislature into supporting a costly money grab of New York liquor stores' wine business.

Here is the press release:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Wendi Leggitt

(212) 681-1380 or (301) 247-0528

STATE DOB KILLED STUDY OF WIGS, COMMISSION CHAIRMAN TESTIFIES

Testimony Conflicts with Commission Report, Which May Have Been Doctored

NEW YORK, NY March 25, 2010 – The State Division of Budget put a halt to an independent economic impact study on legalizing wine sales in grocery stores, has changed the revenue estimates associated with the proposal without any basis, and may have doctored a state report to hide its actions, leaders of the Last Store on Main Street Coalition charged today.

At a State Senate hearing on Wednesday conducted by Senator Craig Johnson, Robert Pitler, chairman of the New York State Law Review Commission on the State Liquor Authority, testified under oath he was ordered by the Division of Budget not to conduct an independent economic impact study on Governor Paterson’s plan to legalize wine sales in 19,000 new outlets.

Pitler said the commission had $200,000 set aside that could have been used to conduct the study before the DOB ordered the commission to cease and desist. When pressed by Senator Johnson, he could not name the DOB official who ordered the study killed.

Pitler’s sworn testimony conflicts with the commission’s report, which specifically stated the study was not conducted because the commission did not have funding for it – raising questions about who doctored the final report to include that false statement.

In addition, Pitler said in his testimony he couldn’t account for the revenue projections included by DOB for wine in grocery stores, which mysteriously increased from $162 million to $300 million between the proposed Executive Budget and the 21-day amendments. Pitler said in his testimony that the projections “seem to increase every time the budget deficit increases.”

“The Paterson Administration has a history of playing fast and loose with the truth, and has failed time and again to get its revenue projections right. But intentionally doctoring a state report to include false information is a serious matter that cannot be ignored,” said Jeff Saunders, founder of the Last Store coalition and president of the Retailers Alliance. “It’s clear the DOB killed the study because they feared it would undercut any argument in favor of the job-killing plan to legalize wine sales in 19,000 new outlets.”

The Paterson Administration has yet to answer a Freedom of Information Act request submitted on February 10 for any and all information to back up its phony $300 million revenue projection, yet another indication there is no backup for this revenue projection.

“Governor Paterson likes to criticize the Legislature, but the record shows he has relied on phantom revenue projections over and over again,” said Stefan Kalogridis, a coalition leader and president of the New York State Liquor Store Association. “There is simply no way the state would raise $300 million from this bad idea, and clearly no justification to backup that number.”

While it’s not clear who in DOB killed the economic impact study, it’s clear why: An industry study found that nearly 40 percent of stores would go out of business and put more than 4,500 people out of work without creating a single new job.

The Senate Democratic Majority and Assembly Democratic Majority have both rejected the Paterson plan, recognizing that the revenues are phony, that it would crush Mom-and-Pop stores and increase underage drinking.

“The Senate and Assembly looked at the facts, and the phony arguments from Big Box stores, and made the right choice by rejecting this dangerous idea,” said Michael Correra, a coalition leader and executive director of the Metropolitan Package Store Association. “Now we need to get to the bottom of the phony numbers and phony statements in the Commission report pushed by the Division of Budget. This is yet another example that our government under Governor Paterson is a disaster, if not worse.”

# # #

Wine In Grocery Stores? The Problem Is the Bureaucratic Mess of a Process

This article was posted on New York Cork Report by Jason Feulner.

" We all know what the government is after: more tax revenue. And to their credit, government leaders have acknowledged that this plan would attract millions of dollars. But every time they seem to gravitate toward an honest explanation -- short-term tax revenues -- they fall back to a position of support for the New York wine industry that rings a bit hollow.

Why is that? Well, the superficial market analysis put forth by the state is so blissfully ignorant of anything approaching price points, consumer choice and distribution realities that it's not even worth de-constructing. Every conversation about the impact on New York state wine ought to include these points, but instead we get platitudes that come off as half-hearted."

Read More >>

KEPPELER: In (New York) vino, veritas?

It's always nice to see a civilian (non-grocery or liquor store oriented writer)  that has looked at all the facts and arrived at the conclusion that wine in grocery stores is a bad idea, even if it means less convenience than what could be had if it were so.  Here is  such a gem:

"Sure, you’ve got your one-time influx of license fees, but we all know how quickly those would simply be subsumed by the black hole that is state government. Do you really think it will show up in any way that matters? I don’t.

It’s not going to hurt the behemoths all that much if they don’t get wine sales. And it’s not going to help the real people working at them very much if they do.

I rather doubt it would ever translate into raises for the rank-and-file workers and managers that need them. It’s going to translate strictly into greater corporate profits. And I think that most of us know that, what corporate gets, it doesn’t give back.

And I can’t see it translating into more jobs. The big chains might hire a wine expert or two, chainwide. Maybe add an employee or so at the bigger stores — but mostly, I’d guess, the work is going to fall right onto the mostly overworked-and-underpaid employees who are there already."

Read the full article here >>

Glenora: Retailer / Winery brainstorming session on growing the sales of NY wines

It was impressive to see.  An energetic group comprised of about twenty New York wineries and fifty New York liquor stores.  The topic: How do we increase the demand for and sales of New York State wines?

The discussion brought out a lot of good ideas, but there were two that stuck out in my mind.  The first was organizing some 'VIP' winery tours that could be marketed by retailers to bring groups of more serious wine consumers to the wineries for extra special treatment and experiences.  I was attracted to that idea because I actually took part in something like that many years ago.

There was a travel/special interest group called Bacchant's Pilgrimages that set up a tour of South American wineries back in the 70's.  We traveled to Peru, Chile, Argentina and Brazil to sample the food and experience first hand the indigenous wine making art.  In each country we were welcomed as special guests of the wineries, often sharing lunch with the winery owner under a trellis in the vineyard, or on the veranda overlooking the estate.  We sampled outstanding local foods and experienced them paired with the local wines.

Not only was it an enjoyable and educational experience, but more importantly we all came back as ambassadors for the yet unknown wineries in this emerging wine export area.  This is exactly the kind of 'exchange' program that can not only bring tourist income in the short run, but can build knowledge and interest in the wonderful foods and wines of New York. I think this is a great idea to pursue.

Another idea revolved on continuing to build the NYS brand, and make it easier for stores and consumers to know more about what's in the bottle by using better and more consistent communication.  Wineries can make better use of back labels and shelf talkers to help understand the experience a given label will offer.

The consensus was that although wine is a multi-dimensional product, the most important diminsion in stores is 'sweetness.'  Although this is a simple concept, there is a lot of confusion because the definition of that trait has been more qualitative than quantitative.  It was suggested that a numerical scale based on residual sugar be devised and strictly adhered to.  This information could be put on the back label, and since it is based on empirical test it would give salespeople and consumers a more accurate impression of what to expect from the liquid in the bottle.

This is especially important for the many 'proprietary blends' that populate the wineries offerings.  Most people have a good idea of what to expect from a bottle of Cabernet-Franc or Chardonnay, but what is a Verse3 Avail (Anyela's Vineyards) or Del-A-Cat (Belhurst) going to be like? Taking the guesswork out of that question would go a long way to making a sale.

There were lots of other great ideas too, and everyone went away with the impression that there is more that can be done to grow the NY wine business, and we can all benefit from it.  Two stores told a simple success formula:  Buy more NY wines and display them in prominent locations and sales of NY wines will explode.  That's easy enough to do.  Let's all try that!

Supermarket industry questions truth of Paterson's franchise fee revenue projections.

Supermarket News just ran a story that says the following:

"Initially, Patterson estimated that the measure would bring in $147 million over two years from a one-time franchise fee that retailers interested in selling wine would pay, per store. But in order to help plug a $750 million budget gap, he increased the fee that would be required of stores with gross sales of over $1 million. And not just by a little.

Given the higher revenue projections, proponents are hopeful wine at grocery will pass. But it remains to be seen whether the franchise fee will be too high for widespread participation. Without adequate retailer buy-in, there is a chance that more revenue would have been produced under the old plan."

And, a little further down they conclude:

"Patterson may have failed to do his homework."

So, apparently even the supermarket industry feels that the higher franchise fee will actually produce LESS money than the governor's original proposal because it will cause many stores to not buy-in at the higher franchise fee level. I guess that's what happens when the desperate Governor uses PFTA (Pluck From The Air) to get income projections for his amended WIG franchise fee proposal. Oops.

WORLD WHISKIES AWARDS 2010

Seven whiskies have scooped the titles of ‘World’s Best’ in the final round of Whisky Magazine’s World Whiskies Awards 2010.

The competition, open to proprietary bottlings only, is chaired by Dave Broom, international whisky expert and exists to inform and educate consumers throughout the world about the very whisky. Winners progressed through three rounds of blind tastings to emerge as the victors in their categories, with the World’s Best New Release being chosen from the magazine’s tastings section and tasted during the final round.

Categories are based upon the commonly held whisky groupings which define the style and process of whisky/whiskey production; malt whisky, blended whisky, blended malt whisky, American whiskey and whisky liqueurs.

The 2010 winners are:

World’s Best Single Malt Whisky
Ardbeg Corryvreckan

World’s Best Blended Whisky
Hibiki 21 Years Old

World’s Best Blended Malt Whisky
Taketsuru 21 Years Old

World’s Best American Whiskey
Rittenhouse Straight Rye 100 proof

World’s Best Whisky Liqueur
Wild Turkey American Honey

World’s Best Grain Whisky
Greenore 15 Years Old

World’s Best New Release
Parker's Heritage Collection Golden Anniversary

The final “World’s Best” trophy winners were presented at the World Whiskies Awards presentation in London on Thursday 25th February 2010.

(I am indulging in a tipple of Glenmorangie 18 Year Old Highland as I post this.)

Full World Whiskies Results 2010 >>;

STATE’S WINERIES JOIN FIGHT AGAINST PROPOSAL TO SELL WINE IN 19,000 NEW OUTLETS

Wineries Release FINAL 03-01