Wis. wineries: new rules would hurt biz

Wis. wineries: new rules would hurt biz

	Published : Fri, 29 Jun 2007 22:28 By : Agencies Print this Story

MADISON, Wis. (AP) - A budget amendment that would prevent Wisconsin wineries from selling their products to retailers would hurt the state's growing number of wineries and make their wines harder to find, critics said Friday.

The amendment backed by Sen. Russ Decker, D-Weston, and beverage distributors was made public as part of hundreds of pages of changes to the budget shortly before the Democratic-controlled Senate approved the document Tuesday.

Under the changes, wineries would have to hire distributors to sell to retailers. Critics say the added step would drive up the cost of Wisconsin bottles and hurt wineries' profit margins.

Winery representatives also said the plan would hurt their ability to ship wine directly to consumers by requiring them to obtain expensive permits and fill out extensive paperwork.

Tim Lawrie, owner of Simon Creek Vineyard and Winery in Door County, called the legislation 'probably the most anti-competition, anti-small business, political payback piece of politics that I have ever seen.'

The regulations would hurt his ability to expand and stop him from selling directly to two local stores, he said.

'Something like this is going to start driving wineries out of business,' Lawrie said. 'If this was in existence when I started the winery five years ago, I probably wouldn't have done it.'

Bill Nelson, president of WineAmerica, a trade group that represents wineries in 48 states, called the plan 'bad government at its worst.' He said the rules would stunt the growth of the state's wineries, which have tripled in number to 41 since 2000.

'Putting something like that in the budget with no scrutiny and no evaluation of the effects on Wisconsin wineries is outrageous,' he said.

Decker's spokeswoman Carrie Lynch said the changes are designed to bring the state into compliance with a 2005 U.S. Supreme Court decision that said in-state and out-of-state wine shipments must face similar regulations.

She said the regulations would actually help Wisconsin wineries by legalizing their ability to ship directly to consumers. Current state law technically bans such shipments even though it is not enforced, she said.

'We are really not trying to squash them as it may be,' she said. 'We are trying to help them get more sales and to make sure it's being done legally.'

The rules would benefit Wisconsin consumers by allowing them to order wines from all over the country, said Mike Wittenwyler, a lawyer for the Wisconsin Wine and Spirit Institute. Right now, Wisconsin consumers can only buy directly from wineries in California and Oregon under reciprocal agreements and not from other states.

'There was always this frustration among Wisconsin consumers that they were not able to make these purchases,' he said.

But Nelson, whose group represents 850 wineries, said the permits costing $1,000 and other regulations would mean that most wineries would not ship to Wisconsin.

'They set up a system that's unworkable and is prohibitively expensive,' he said. 'Nobody in their right mind is going to pay that kind of money.'

Rep. Garey Bies, R-Sister Bay, who represents wineries in Door County, has vowed to try to remove the language in the Assembly's version of the budget. His chamber is expected to consider the budget next month.