SPECIALTY RETAILERS APPOINT NEW DIRECTOR
Tom Wark will serve as the new executive director of the Specialty Wine Retailers Association. His main responsibility? To lead “the association as it works to build a national marketplace for retailer-to-consumer sales in the face of artificial and protectionist barriers to trade,” according to a statement issued by the group.
Wark entered the wine industry in 1990 working in public relations. In 1994 he established his own firm, Wark Communications, to provide communications services to wineries and wine-related companies. He has worked with the Coalition for Free Trade, Family Winemakers of California and Napa Valley Vintners.
A LITTLE BACKGROUND. The Speciality Wine Retailers are working to push legislation that would allow retailers to directly ship wine to in-state and out-of-state residents.
Last spring suits were filed in Texas and California that challenged laws prohibiting consumers from purchasing and receiving wine directly from out-of-state retailers.
The result? A Texas court signed a preliminary injunction that made it legal for out-of-state beer and wine retailers to ship to adults in the state without a permit.
That means out-of-state retailers can ship wine to consumers anywhere in the state, even in dry areas, which something even in-state retailers had always believed was illegal. Even wineries outside the state must obtain a permit to ship to Texas consumers.
The original lawsuit, brought by the Specialty Wine Retailers Association, contends that Texas’ requirement that retailers reside in Texas in order to have a license is unconstitutional under Granholm.
We’ve since learned that Glazer’s has issued a motion to intervene in the case, arguing that this order would essentially give out-of-state retailers an advantage, as in-state retailers must obtain their product through the three-tier system. It’s the exact same argument in Granholm, only in reverse.
However, one source points out that maybe the harsh nature of the injunction was actually intentional, even encouraged by state regulators, as it would force the issue to be resolved in a full fledged trial, which would test the state’s alcohol laws completely, rather than an easy compromise reached by all parties, which could invite more litigation down the road.
California has since faced a retail lawsuit similar to the one upheld in Texas. The suit was filed on the behalf of individual retail owners in Los Angeles County, Oakland and San Jose that would allow California consumers to order wine from out-of-state retailers.
"The goal is not lawsuits, but opening the national wine market to retailers through a permit system, just as wineries have done," said John Hinman, an attorney with Hinman & Carmichael LLP, a firm that is working with the Specialty Wine Retailers Association.
Wark entered the wine industry in 1990 working in public relations. In 1994 he established his own firm, Wark Communications, to provide communications services to wineries and wine-related companies. He has worked with the Coalition for Free Trade, Family Winemakers of California and Napa Valley Vintners.
A LITTLE BACKGROUND. The Speciality Wine Retailers are working to push legislation that would allow retailers to directly ship wine to in-state and out-of-state residents.
Last spring suits were filed in Texas and California that challenged laws prohibiting consumers from purchasing and receiving wine directly from out-of-state retailers.
The result? A Texas court signed a preliminary injunction that made it legal for out-of-state beer and wine retailers to ship to adults in the state without a permit.
That means out-of-state retailers can ship wine to consumers anywhere in the state, even in dry areas, which something even in-state retailers had always believed was illegal. Even wineries outside the state must obtain a permit to ship to Texas consumers.
The original lawsuit, brought by the Specialty Wine Retailers Association, contends that Texas’ requirement that retailers reside in Texas in order to have a license is unconstitutional under Granholm.
We’ve since learned that Glazer’s has issued a motion to intervene in the case, arguing that this order would essentially give out-of-state retailers an advantage, as in-state retailers must obtain their product through the three-tier system. It’s the exact same argument in Granholm, only in reverse.
However, one source points out that maybe the harsh nature of the injunction was actually intentional, even encouraged by state regulators, as it would force the issue to be resolved in a full fledged trial, which would test the state’s alcohol laws completely, rather than an easy compromise reached by all parties, which could invite more litigation down the road.
California has since faced a retail lawsuit similar to the one upheld in Texas. The suit was filed on the behalf of individual retail owners in Los Angeles County, Oakland and San Jose that would allow California consumers to order wine from out-of-state retailers.
"The goal is not lawsuits, but opening the national wine market to retailers through a permit system, just as wineries have done," said John Hinman, an attorney with Hinman & Carmichael LLP, a firm that is working with the Specialty Wine Retailers Association.
posted at 11:36 AM
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