December 24, 2007
All We Want for Christmas is Imported Wine
Good holiday news for District oenophiles: via the Examiner, the D.C. Council is considering legislation that would boost the amount of wine you can could have shipped to you from outside the city to two cases per month, per home or business. Currently an individual is limited to only one quart of wine per month if you don't have a manufacturer's, wholesaler's or retailer's license.
Of course, retailers and wholesalers are expected to oppose the bill, because it would do away with the advantage they currently hold as the only people who can import large quantities of wine into the District.
Ward 1 Council member Jim Graham introduced the bill, which is expected to be taken up by the Council after the winter recess.
Photo by Beck Exposed
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Just food for thought: part of the reason that Montgomery County, despite being liberal and secular, still limits liquor sales to county-run stores and only permits one grocery store location per chain to sell beer and wine is that the DC liquor store owners lobby to keep the MD county's laws strict. Knowing that if Montgomery County residents have such limited options in terms of liquor stores and places to buy beer, wine, and food all in the same stop, they'll be more likely to just head to Rodman's, Magruders, or somewhere else just across the DC line.
It's time that DC liquor store owners either shut the fuck up and butt out of MD politics, or at the very least show some holiday cheer and give me some free booze this week!
But seriously...in Cali (Santa Clara and San Mateo counties, at least), you can go to Safeway any day of the week before 2am and leave with all your groceries, as well as beer, wine, and liquor. This more reasonable system makes it so much more flexible and convenient for the cooks around the area, as well as those of us who don't stay drunk every moment of the day when alcohol is legally sold.
oh, and on the note of shipping booze, anyone curious about absinthe should check out www.eabsinthe.com
Even if US Customs siezes your first order, they guarantee delivery and resend for free til it gets through (probably 1 of every 20 or 50 absinthe shipments gets checked, and chances are the Customs agent won't care anyway). Thank god the Bush Administration hasn't cracked down on terrorism in the form of European absinthe houses prompting Americans to remove our own ears a la Van Gogh! They have enough problems with "terrorism" in the form of educated, pacifist and political dissent at home.
Sure, CM Graham introduced this legislation but just you wait till some teenager gets drunk off the two cases of fancy wine he ordered via the Internet(s) and shoots someone...then good ole' Jim will be shouting from every street corner that this is bad, bad, bad.
Don't worry, adamsmorgan...you apparently haven't heard about Jim Graham's other proposed bill to ensure the safety of Washington's adult population by euthanizing every child in the city on his or her twelfth birthday. And that means more Kir Soylent Greens for us adults!
I'm a wine importer and retailer in DC. I wouldn't oppose the bill. I want people to be able to buy from any retailer, within DC or not. And I'd love to be able to sell to Maryland residents. As a retailer, I can ship to maybe 12 states now.
Wine shipping is self-limiting because the cost of shipping is so high (wine is heavy so the shipping is expensive). You have to really want that wine, and pay a lot to receive it on top of the cost. And as a retailer, I want to be sure the wine will be handled properly, that costs more as well. So I don't see this as opening the floodgates. And if customers buy something and have it shipped and want more of it, they can ask their local wine store to get it. Chances are it will be cheaper for the customer that way anyway. So it could end up increasing the varieties available to customers locally anyway.