Virginia Wine Legislation (SB1445) and a Dirty Interview With Gundlach Bundschu
Totally awesome Creative Commons licensed image from Flickr user ulterior epicure
Anything Wine posted an update on Virginia Senate Bill SB1445 which seeks to clear some of the confusion surrounding exactly when wineries can solicit for memberships in a wine-of-the-month club.
From the bill summary:
Clarifies that the holder of a wine shipper license or beer shipper license may solicit and receive applications for subscription to a wine-of-the-month or beer-of-the-month club at in-state or out-of-state locations for which a license for on-premises consumption has been issued, other than the place where the licensee carries on the business for which the license is granted.
Everyone got that? Me neither.
An overlooked casualty of Maryland not allowing direct wine shipping is that Maryland wineries can’t operate wine-of-the-month clubs. These clubs can be big hits with loyal customers, but are often bigger hits with the wineries themselves. Wine clubs provide something approaching a steady monthly revenue stream for wineries who don’t have distribution deals and have trouble getting their wines in front of a consumer. Without them, small wineries have to rely on tasting room visits, word of mouth, and selling wine to distributors for half price. Which, frankly, is exactly how the distributors want it and why they spend the big bucks to keep it that way.
Anyway, down in Georgia, Dirty of Dirty South Wine posted a video of him interviewing Jeff Bundschu of Gundlach Bundschu. Gundlach Bundschu (Gun-lock Bun-shoe) is on my short list of wineries that I recommend whenever people ask me which wineries they should visit on a Napa/Sonoma trip. They run a nice operation, all friendly people, and pour some good wines in the tasting room. They run a pretty good wine club too. Dirty and Jeff discussed old wines, sustainability, and not destroying the Earth. Jeff posted a bit about it on his blog as well.
April 9th, 2009 at 7:40 am
Thanks for the recommendation Gary, and sharing the pronunciation key is always appreciated. Be sure to let us know when you’re back in town for a visit!
Cheers,
Susan Sueiro
Marketing Director, Gundlach Bundschu
April 9th, 2009 at 12:42 pm
Susan, You’re very welcome. Thanks for the comment!
Gary
May 4th, 2009 at 2:53 pm
Cool, I’ve been looking for a new winery to check out. Will visit.