http://www.voteforwine.com

Unfortunately, the heated rhetoric around this issue is drowning out the truly harmful one of tripling the excise tax. This will have a much bigger impact on NY wineries than who can and can’t sell wine. Yes the tax is currently lower than many states, but if you look at the total cost of producing wine in this state, whether you grow grapes, make wine or both, everything else (except land, which most vineyards have long since paid off) is MUCH more expensive.

Face it, the stores that will survive if this goes through are those that have done their homework and toiled hard to find interesting stuff and cultivate an audience for it. I know a store buyer who made a killing recently selling grower champagne over the Holidays, something inconceivable even a few years back. It took him months and months of strongly held faith to wean his customers from just pointing at the overrated yellow labeled bottle which lazy shop owners play the lost leader game with. As for the plexiglas armored shops, well, they’re dead as wine haunts. They’d better hope their hard liquor sales are strong.

True, there are problems with the proposal, the excise tax for one. And there is a risk that boutique importers may find some of their producers siphoned off by the giant “might as well be selling cars” distributors looking to edge their way into the better shops, but that’s el capitalismo, baby, and I trust that the small guys will remain at the vanguard of what’s new and different that hits the shelves because it is passion that drives them and not just loot. Besides, that tasty little Languedoc Syrah they once had a tough going placing in the midst of oceans of pissy Shiraz may now find room to grow.

Wine at grocery stores works perfectly well in California and the UK. Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods do interesting wine just as they do interesting food. Larger chains (ok, so NYC doesn’t know what that means) focus on larger markets.

Specialist wine stores will thrive, just as they do in California and the UK. Berry Bros are thriving despite people being able to drop into the local Tesco for a bottle of wine, while California has some of the most interesting and passionate wine sellers despite competition from Safeway, Von’s, Ralph’s…

The people hurt will be those running crappy liquor stores, though by their continued prevalence in California not too badly, and marginal NY producers. The impact there is likely to be minimal as well, with the structure of the NY retail economy, and if a winery truly depends on ridiculous state regulation to stay in business they should be embarrassed and deserve to go broke.

Some of the better wine stores will branch out as you suggested. Others will just need to raise their game slightly on service and pricing.

Treating wine as some dangerous good is insane and destructive. Treat it like cheese – availabel from grocery stores, farm stores, markets, gourmet delis, and specialty cheese shops. All those stores serve a purpose and niche in distributing cheese, just as the same (or similar) stores will serve a niche in wine retailing.

The idea that UK wine retailing is horrible is beyond laughable. To further destroy the point, look at how wine is sold in France and Italy. Is it locked up in specialized (or government controlled) stores, or is it freely sold across a range of outlets? Are these countries viewed as having strong or weak wine cultures? Since we’re supposed to be learning so much from France and Italy in treating wine as a part of life, and they are viewed as sources of the “good life”, shouldn’t we emulate their retail culture for wine by letting grocery stores sell wine?

The bad thing in Patterson’s proposal is the increase in excise tax. We don’t need to further overtax wine or to further complicate the state’s revenue generation. Eliminate all taxes but the state income tax so that voters know what the true cost of government is.

What’s positive about these stores having to defend their turf are the very suggestions you mentioned they would need to remain relevant. Competition like this forces you as an owner to weigh-in on details like a properly informed staff, or the concept of loyalty programs. Perhaps you have weekly tastings with a free information session, first come, first served? Whatever the choice, it only serves to improve upon the prior business model and it’s thanks to the fear of losing out.

The situation here in the UK – where supermarkets completely dominate the wine trade – should be seen as a warning. It’s not just big brands dominating. The real problem are the exclusive brands that are usually substandard as well as poor value but define comparison. Think the Trader Joe’s model but on a wide scale.

The tough regulations in New York have accidentally made it one of the best places for the wine consumer in the world – it will be a shame to lose a wonderful thing.

An example of a good use of regulations is the NFL – they are highly regulated (and strangely quasi-socialist) to level the playing field between teams. In the end, the fans benefit since the leagues aren’t dominated by a small group of teams.