NY roadside wine sales bill stuck in Assembly

ALBANY, NY -- The New York State Assembly is in the spotlight for supporters of a bill that would allow wines produced by farms, wineries or micro-wineries to be sold at roadside farm markets.

The Senate already has passed S.4242-A, but that was back on February 13. The same day it was delivered to the Assembly and 11 days later it was referred to its Committee on Economic Development as A9387-2011. And, there it sits nearly two months later.

In a joint statement, State Sen. William J. Larkin Jr. (R-C, 39th District), and Mike Oates, President and CEO of the Hudson Valley Economic Development Corp., said passage of the bill would mean "more local products will be available to shoppers in the area, opening up a new avenue of business for companies that are an integral part of a proud tradition of excellence right here in the Hudson Valley.

"In addition to the many wineries and vineyards in our region, the bill has the full support of the Hudson Valley Food and Beverage Alliance, a group that promotes and represents the wide range of organizations in the food and beverage industry that call our area home. Leading the way in this sector is the winemaking industry, which traces its roots in this region back hundreds of years."

If the bill passes the Assembly and is signed into law by Governor Andrew Cuomo, it would allow the sale of specific wine products at roadside farm markets, as long as the stand is within 20 miles of where the wine is produced.

The stands would be under the supervision of the State Liquor Authority They would be allowed to sell wines from a maximum of two wineries each. Only wines by the bottle would be allowed for sale, and no tastings could be conducted.

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Winery sale reneging costs $4 million

• From the Lubbock, TX, Avalanche-Journal

Albuquerque, NM, winery owner Laurent L. Gruet must pay $4 million for failing to follow through on his bid to buy Cap*rock Wine Co. nearly two years ago, a bankruptcy judge in Lubbock has ruled.

Judge Robert L. Jones ruled Gruet, who bid $6.5 million for the then-bankrupt winery in July 2010, breached the contract by not completing the purchase.

At the same time, Jones dismissed fraud claims raised in the suit by trustee Max Tarbox, ruling while Gruet "made a false promise" to buy the winery, his efforts to close on the purchase proved there was no intention to commit fraud. ...

(The judge) awarded the bankruptcy estate $3.9 million in damages plus attorney’s fees and costs of more than $425,467.

The $3.9 million is based on the winery selling for $2.5 million in a second auction a month later, and $100,000 Gruet paid Tarbox to keep the deal open while trying to raise his 10 percent earnest money deposit of $650,000.

[Go here for the full story.]

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Wine-in-markets plan, Oklahoma style

• An editorial from The Oklahoman newspaper.

Let's see if we have this straight.

If enough petition signatures are gathered, then Oklahomans could be asked in November to vote on whether to give the state's 15 largest counties the option of selling wine in grocery stores.

Those stores would have to be at least 25,000 square feet, and corporations that obtain licenses for these wine sales couldn't operate more than six locations.

What kind of goofy plan is that?

The group pushing to change Oklahoma’s liquor statutes, Oklahomans for Modern Laws, said at the beginning its goal was to get wine and something other than 3.2-strength beer sold in grocery and convenience stores.

We were among those who liked the idea of letting voters decide if they wanted to update our laws by amending the constitution. But language in a petition submitted this week makes no mention of strong beer, cuts convenience stores out completely and seeks to have the changes pertain only to the 15 counties with at least 50,000 residents.

Why shouldn't folks in the other 62 counties have the opportunity to decide if they want these changes where they live?

If approved, this proposal would benefit big box stores and larger grocery stores. Some convenience store representatives are understandably riled about their industry being carved out. And package store owners aren't thrilled, either, because they wouldn't be given more latitude to sell nonalcoholic items such as snacks.

Brian Howe, director of Oklahomans for Modern Laws, says this was as far as the group felt it could go at this time if it hoped to succeed.

But what are the chances of ever going back for more if this passes? Better to have kept the original goal of wine and strong beer in grocery and convenience stores, and made it county-option like liquor by the drink, which makes no provision for the size of counties, instead of this hodgepodge.

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New study: Red wine compound blocks fat

We've all heard, by now, of the research that gives strong credence to the idea that a component of the wine may help lower blood pressure and cholesterol, thus improving heart health.

Now comes word that another compound has been found in wine that blocks immature fat cells' ability to develop and grow.

I can see the headlines over the next few days. "Too fat? Drink wine." "Wine: The Wonderful Fat Reducing Drink." And so on.

But, bear in mind this is just one such study. It was published this week in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, explaining that researchers from Purdue University say they’ve found a compound similar to resveratrol -- the heart healthy compound in red wine, but also have foiund it in grapes, blueberries and passion fruit. It's called piceatannol, which researchers speculate may be helpful in fighting cancer, heart disease and neurodegenerative diseases.

Resveratrol is converted to piceatannol in humans after consumption. Piceatannol also has been found to act as fat blocker.

"Piceatannol actually alters the timing of gene expressions, gene functions and insulin action during adipogenesis, the process in which early stage fat cells become mature fat cells," said Kee-Hong Kim, lead researcher. "In the presence of piceatannol, you can see delay or complete inhibition of adipogenesis."

In other words, the compound blocks the pathways necessary for immature fat cells to mature and grow.

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Cornell preserving East Coast wine history

A historic poster in the collection.

• From the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle

ITHACA -- From historical records to bottle labels, an archive at Cornell University is quietly collecting and preserving materials related to the East Coast wine industry.

Established in 1998 as part of the university’s rare book and manuscript collections, the Eastern Wine and Grape Archive contains documents, records, marketing collateral and ephemera from wineries and vineyards dating back to the 19th Century.

Presently, Cornell is the only American university with an ongoing program to document wine production and consumption in the United States.

Finger Lakes materials in the archive include 19th Century documents from Pleasant Valley Wine Co. in Hammondsport, Steuben County. The winery, which remains open and operational, was founded in 1860 and first invested in equipment to produce sparkling wine during the Civil War.

The materials do not circulate and must be viewed in the library’s reading room.

For more information about the archive, go here.

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