She probably said that because the festival uses a wholesaler but if the wineries close, the selection of wines will have to change. I just received this from Sir Dragon's and mine favorite winery, Basignani which has been sold at MDRF for the last few years in conjuction with Linganore:
Dear Supporter of Maryland Wine,
As you may have heard in recent days, Maryland's wineries ability to sell their
wine directly to wine stores and restaurants is under attack.
No winery in Maryland can be started or grow without the ability to sell
directly to restaurants, retailers, and consumers who come to the winery. Of
Maryland’s 22 wineries, only four distribute their product through wholesalers.
Eighteen rely solely upon their ability to sell directly to retailers,
restaurants and consumers who come to the winery in order to start their
business and make it grow.
Maryland is attempting to mandate that wineries use wholesalers to get their
product to market. Wholesalers typically demand a 30% margin – fine for larger
wineries who are able to manage this loss, but smaller wineries cannot afford
this, and will be forced to close.
We are asking for your support in this matter. Please spend a few minutes to
call or compose a letter to your legislators – and if you have time and interest
– the committee members who will be hearing our bills.
Information, as well as a draft letter, are available online:
marylandwine.com/mwa/laws/contactlegislators.shtml Our proposed Senate legislation (SB812) will be heard on March 7 @ 1 p.m. in the
Senate Education, Health and Environmental Matters committee. House Bill 1122
will be heard on March 6th. Maryland wine supporters are encouraged to attend
the hearing. Details are found on the website stated above.
We have always valued your support and interest in Maryland wine – and hope you
are able to take a few minutes to ensure that Maryland’s wineries are able to
continue their growth and popularity.
( The wholesalers have submitted a bill to remove our ability to self-wholesale
from our Class 4 license. We need everyone to rally against this. SB877,
sponsored by Baltimore City Senator Joan Carter Conway (links to all bills are
on our website).
Recent Activity:
The House Sponsors of the Wholesalers bill are Delegates Davis, Love, Harrison
and Miller. All of these Delegates are on the Economic Matters Committee and
Delegate Love Chairs the Alcohol Work Group. All of these Delegates get money
from the Wholesalers and MSLBA because of their committee assignments. Delegate
Mary Ann Love is especially worrisome because she is totally in the pocket of
the Wholesalers Lobby Hence the introduction of the wholesaler’s bill in the
face of our bill with enormous co-sponsorship. We need lots of grass roots
support from our army of volunteers, grape growers, suppliers, retailers, etc.
etc. and lots of it needs to be directed directly at these committee members.