Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/123973
in Pennsylvania is slapped with the 18% tax, which was ery direct-to-consumer shipping, but opposition to set up as a temporary recovery measure after a flood retailers shipping directly to other states appears to be in 1936 (not the "great" flood of 1889). But for instate rising. Meanwhile, there's increased attention paid to producers, the tax is assessed on the wholesale price, other shipping restrictions, such as capacity caps that an important distinction. Negotiators are aiming for limit the amount of wine consumers are allowed to something in the range of 8%-12%, Gross said. receive each year. Taking a closer look at 2012 sales, Jason Eckenroth, Nationally, the shipping situation has morphed from founder and CEO of ShipCompliant, noted that Califora nearly solid-red map indicating shipping bans all over, nia was the No. 1 state by to one that is mostly blue, volume at 30% of all shipindicating shipping is Direct Shipment Laws by State for Wineries Contact: Wine Institute for latest updates ments, with Texas No. 2 at allowed. Only seven states www.wineinstitute.org (Information Current as of May 1, 2012) (415) 512-0151 10%. "If anyone doesn't have an outright ban on have a license to ship to direct-to-consumer (DTC) Texas, now is the time to shipping and 89% of the get one," he said. U.S. population has access An interesting fact: One to DTC sales. Gross pointin nine consumers who ed out that laws in some were introduced to online of those blue states still wine sales through thirdneed work, with lingerparty marketers in 2012 ing issues ranging from went on to order directly high fees to burdensome from a winery. paperwork requirements Consumers were willto capacity caps. ing to spend more than in A big-ticket item for the past, with people in 2013 is opening up what their 40s willing to spend conference speakers jokthe most on bottles ($44 ingly referred to as "Pen- Only the states in red do not allow direct-to-consumer wine average bottle price). Peonachussets." That would shipping. Source: Wine Institute ple in their 40s and 50s be Pennsylvania and Masaccounted for the bulk of the sales market, while the sachusetts, two potentially big wine-sales states. Both much-talked-about Millennials were struggling, caught have court rulings opening the door to direct shipping, in an economic pincer movement of graduating with but are awaiting legislation. serious debt in the teeth of a major recession. Efforts to get DTC shipping legislation OK'd in MasTime to ditch those youngsters? Maybe not. sachusetts last year were sidelined by an unrelated legTrend data show that mature customers' market islative fight over used cars, but Gross said it looks like share has been States: and Boomers have dropped someflat the bill has a good chance to pass this year. Federal On-Site Shipment Delaware - no limit what, while1 Gen X has risen and Millennials, despite the In Pennsylvania, the state liquor control board is in Oklahoma - up to liter South Dakota to 1 gallon headwindsupthey face, have increased their market share. favor of DTC shipping but wants to impose an 18% Blowing off younger customers might make shortJohnstown flood tax on the retail price of shipped botterm sense, but it's not a smart long-term bet. tles on top of the 6% sales tax. Every bottle of alcohol WA MI SD WI WY UT CA AZ CO IL KS OK NM TX La ke Eri io Ontar PA WV VA KY NC TN AR NH MA NY e OH IN MO CT NJ RI DE MD Washington DC SC MS Hawaii Lake MI IA NE NV ME Lake Huron higan MN ID VT Lake Superior ND Lake Mic MT OR AL GA LA FL Alaska Copyright © 2010. Wine Institute. All rights reserved. FRACK IMPACT Monterey County is home to lush vineyards and more than 40 grape varieties, including wellrespected chardonnays and pinot noirs. But could it also become known for fine, aged shale oil? That's a question that's been coming up lately as oil producers explore the possibility of using hydraulic fracturing, aka "fracking," to extract oil from the Monterey shale, a huge geologic formation 14 V I N E YARD & WINERY MANAGEMENT | that runs beneath southern and central California and is estimated to contain more than 15 billion gallons of shale oil. There's no timeline on when, or if, extraction might begin, but the issue jumped to the forefront in late 2012 when the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) auctioned off nearly 18,000 acres of oil leases involving land in Monterey, San Benito and Fresno counties. The oil is difficult to reach, sandwiched between layers of rock, which is why hydraulic fracturing May - June 2013 is used – a method that uses water and chemicals at very high pressure to crack the rock and release the oil. The oil industry is exploring whether drilling the Monterey shale is feasible, and any decision to drill by conventional means or fracking would have to clear permitting processes. State and federal officials, meanwhile, are in the process of drafting new regulations. Still, the issue certainly has grapegrowers' attention. "Water is the crux of the whole w w w. v w m m e d i a . c o m