ANNAPOLIS — A state bill that would allow vintners to ship wine directly to consumers caught some flack Monday from opponents worried over who was signing for that FedEx package, and who would be collecting sales tax on that deal.
“All of these liquors are easily accessible to underage drinkers. You don’t have to show an ID online,” Del Sonny Minnick (D-Dist 6) said during the House economic-matters committee meeting. “We want the state to be responsible to underage drinkers.”
If passed, the bill would allow local and out-of-state wine dealers to sell and ship bottles directly to Maryland consumers. Currently, consumers who want that special bottle of sumpin’ sumpin’ must buy it from a local retailer, or ask that retailer to order then receive said sumpin’ for the consumer to pick up.
It’s a broke-down system, bill sponsor Del Tom Hucker (D-Dist 20) wrote to the committee. The setup — where the wine producer, wholesaler and retailer must get their liquor licenses aligned before anyone pours a single drop of vino — is “a joke,” the Indian Spring rep said.
Wine aficionado Paul Hoffstein called the bill a win-win, where Maryland vintners can make a little cash shipping bottles to local and out-of-state customers, and dudes like him can have less common bottles delivered to their homes. And don’t sweat the kids trying to score hooch online.
“Shipping costs are between $35 and $50 a case,” Hoffstein testified. “This isn’t a way for teenagers to get liquor. This is a niche bill.”
But Chuck Ferrar, who owns Bay Ridge Wine and Spirits in Annapolis, gave the bill a thumbs down. Online and mail-order sales would make it tough for the state to collect sales tax, a nasty proposition in this fiscal environment, he told the committee.
“They’re gonna give us $90,000 in permit fees, and we’re gonna lose $10 million in taxes,” Ferrar testified.
Whether the bill advances beyond this committee is unknown. A similar bill went down in flames last year.
Photo courtesy of Flickr user Kai Hendry.
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Boxed wines and rosés are back in vogue. Just ask The Penguin's sommeliers.
All of these recent articles on the Penguin site about alcohol make me want to hit the happy hour circuit tonight.
-Cheers-
Amazing, I agree with Tom Hucker on something! So the liquor store owner (no conflict of interest there!) thinks the state will lose out on $167 MILLION dollars in wine sales? Give me a break! Oh yeah, I forgot, it’s all about protecting the children.
Simple local wine price facts:
Mass market California cabernet
Montg. Cnty Store price (downtown Silver Spring) = $14
DC liquor stores = $9
Trade press reviewed 2005 Bordeaux
Montg. Cnty Store price (downtown Silver Spring) = $28
DC liquor stores = $22
Boutique Mendoza Malbec (Argentina)
Montg. Cnty Store price (downtown Silver Spring) = $62
DC liquor stores = $53
If you’re a numbers type of guy, you might reasonably ask who pockets the difference in the two prices? (Answer: it ain’t the School Board.) Yes, adding shipping costs of $35-$50 per case, especially in the low price ranges, would raise the total cost slightly over the County store price — but the nominal extra cost would include delivery to my front door!
I should point out that the DC stores include really convenient choices like Magruder’s and Paul’s, right across the line in Chevy Chase; Morris Miller, Georgia Ave. NW; and even Rodman’s Drug store (wine and beer only) in Friendship Hgts (!!)
If Hucker and Raskin can get this past the lobbyists, I will toast the whole dang Assembly with a balloon glass of my fave Aussie shiraz (the one that I love but Ike Leggett’s franchise store doesn’t even carry)…
It always surprises me that Maryland, which is considered generally to be a Leftist state, is so conservative when it comes to alcohol. It’s behind even Virginia!