New York state law right now bans the sale of wine in grocery stores. However, they are working towards changing this, and want grocery stores to have a selection of wines available for purchase for the shopper and consumer. There are always two sides to any debate and advocates for the law argue that this would create 2,000 jobs and would increase sales of wine 20% statewide due to higher access for consumers. Those against the law argue that this would put nearly 1,000 liquor stores out of business and they feel that the grocery stores would not be as strict as the liquor stores when checking id's for legal consumption. They also argue that the grocery stores would only carry the biggest, most well known brands of wine, eliminating people's desire to try different wines only carried at a liquor or speciality store. I am personally against the idea of selling wine in a grocery store. To be honest, when I first heard about it, I was for it. I was for it only because of the convenience aspect of it. I am always on the run, so of course I am always an advocate for convenience. However, I am also a wine enthusiast and do believe that this could put those mom and pop liquor and wine stores out of business due to people's lack of imagination when buying their wine. Not that I have a problem with brands like Yellow Tail and Barefoot..some of them are actually really good..but I have been to many wine specialty stores as well, aka the Vin Bin, and found the passion the workers have for their less known wines to be special and I have tried many wines that I wouldn't have tried otherwise. So, what do YOU think??
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Hi Stefany!
ReplyDeleteFirst off- it's great to see another Boston area wine blogger. I've added your blog to my feed reader and I'll look forward to your updates.
I'm in favor of selling wine in grocery stores, and I believe in consumer choice. I believe that good small wine shops that add value survive. Wine shops that aren't doing anything different than stocking typical grocery stores wines would (should?) be threatened by this, but if a business isn't adding value I don't see why we as consumers should support them or feel bad for them if they lose business as a result of a change that gives consumers more choice.
Oh- and it's been a long time since I've been to the VinBin but I'll have to get back there soon.
Cheers!
Robert Dwyer
The Wellesley Wine Press
Hi Robert! Thanks for writing and I always enjoy discussing wine with locals. I just subscribed to your Wine Press blog through email so I also look forward to reading updates.
ReplyDeleteI also see what you're saying about the good small wine stores. And I do believe that wine enthusiasts, like you or I, would still go to those small wine stores. However, my fear is that those people who may only like wine a little bit, but still always went to those smaller liquor stores just because they were there, will switch over to the grocery stores for the convenience factor, and the owners of the small stores, who I feel a lot of them work hard at trying to educate people on the world of wine, will lose those people whose minds they have opened. Differences of opinions!
And yes, the Vin Bin is such a great place!!! I've tried a few different wines and cheeses from there and I've never been disappointed!
I hope to talk more Robert and share ideas!
Cheers!
Hi Stefany, I discovered your blog via Robert's tweet earlier today.
ReplyDeleteOn this subject, which failed in Massachusetts a couple of years ago, I agree that there are several pros and cons. But if had to decide I would say yes to wine in grocery stores. This is the sort of thing that can be discussed for hours, but I will try to keep my comment here short.
Many small wine stores aren't just wine stores, they are liquor stores... they sell a wide range of alcoholic beverages. Supermarkets would only sell wine.
Sure there are liquor stores out there dedicated to offering good wines, good value, education, etc. but those are the exception. Most liquor stores that would potentially be negatively impacted by this law do a terrible job at education customers, storing wines appropriately, offering unique wines, etc.
In my opinion there is a good chance that the stores that really do a good all around job would eventually benefit from new wine consumers who got turned into wine via grocery store selections. These new consumers would at some point graduate from their supermarket yellow tails, no pun intended, to more distinct wines which could not be found at the supermarket, but only at the best small wine stores.
Congrats, and best wishes with your new blog... glad I found it.
Marco Montez
Travessia Winery