Free the grapes!!!!!!

I think any wine lover should check out this site. These fine people are out there going to bat for us wine drinkers in the unlucky states where a person cannot receive wine by shipment directly from the wineries. Here in Utah wine can only be purchased at a state owned and operated liquor store. It hurts my feel goods :(

Here is an excerpt from their site:

[ "Ship the Wine. Do Some Time."
"Chardonnay Carpetbaggers"
"Bootleggers"

This is the rhetoric of the Wine & Spirit Wholesalers of America (www.wswa.org).

This well-funded, national lobby and its counterparts at the state level engage in a national wine war that pits consumers -- who want the option of having wineries and retailers ship directly to them -- against wine wholesalers, who are threatening winemakers and citizens with jail time if they bypass the middlemen.

Free the Grapes! is a national grassroots coalition of wine lovers, wineries and retailers. Our goal is to allow wine consumers to purchase the wines they want, in the manner of their choosing.
Free the Grapes! was established in June 1998 by five wine industry associations to augment, not replace, the three-tier system with limited, regulated direct-to-consumer shipments. The association represents well over 2,000 U.S. wineries, and focuses its collective resources on seeking a workable solution that efficiently serves the needs of adult wine lovers and state regulators in a dynamic marketplace. A 501c(6) non-profit California trade association, Free the Grapes' operations are funded exclusively by contributions from wine consumers and winemakers.]

freethegrapes.org