So imagine my pleasant surprise when I hear that Harris Teeter, opening a store in McHenry Row in Baltimore in December, might also be selling wine. Matt and I really like the Harris Teeter in our neighborhood; it’s clean and well stocked, without being too pricey. It has a lot of the international or organic foods you might expect at a specialty store, but also has your basic bread and butter. But wine?

The first person to answer my emails was Adam Borden, the president of Marylanders for Better Beer and Wine Laws, who commented on the original article linked above. He clarified that Harris Teeter would manage the Cellars, which is the wine shop in question, but the shop would be a separate space with its own entrance. That’s pretty much the information posted in this update.

I contacted Harris Teeter’s corporate office and was referred to Mark Sapperstein, who owns the Cellars. This is Sapperstein’s first store, so he wasn’t sure how common this set up was. However, Sapperstein would own the shop and take care of licensing and running the shop, while Harris Teeter would manage it. He said that there wouldn’t be much partnership between the two shops, but rather that the shops would merely be next to each other, much like most grocery store and liquor store relationships.

Harris Teeter seems to have a decent amount of information about wine on its website, with an established wine club and a showcased wine of the week. It may not sound like much, but it’s more than what our local liquor shop has. And it’s better than “wine product” (thanks to David White of Fermentation for that link).

There is a sampling event on Tuesday, December 6th at 5:30 pm at the new Harris Teeter, located at 1700 whetstone way, Baltimore, Maryland 21230. It sounds like I’ll get more of a feel for the set up that evening.

Anyone else hear about this new shop opening up? What wines would you want to see in your local grocery shop?

26 states (plus DC) currently allow corkage on a statewide level, although some reserve that right to more local jurisdictions. So, not quite as prevalent as direct shipping, but that still puts Maryland in the minority on this issue. Locally, Virginia, Delaware and West Virginia prohibit any sort of corkage outright, while Pennsylvania does allow individual establishments to set their own policy (as long as you bought that alcoholic beverage in PA, because state law makes it unlawful for anyone to possess wine or liquor purchased outside of that state) along with the District.

Here is the text of the proposed amendment to the Maryland Code:

PG County Public Hearing PG 305-11

For the purpose of allowing a patron in a restaurant for which a certain alcoholic beverages license is issued in Prince George’s County to consume under certain circumstances wine not purchased from the restaurant; and generally relating to alcoholic beverages in Prince George’s County.

The new text of the article in question would read (changes in bold):

Article 2B – Alcoholic Beverages

12-107

(b)            (2)            Except as provided in paragraph (10) of this subsection, it shall be unlawful for any person to drink on the licensed premises of any license holder any alcoholic beverages not purchased from the license holder on said premises and not permitted by this article to be consumed on the premises; and it shall be unlawful for any license holder to permit any person to drink any alcoholic beverage not purchase from the said license holder on the premises covered by the license which he holds and not permitted by this article to be consumed on the premises.

(10)            In Prince George’s County, a patron in a restaurant for which a Class B beer, wine and liquor license is issued may consume wine not purchased from the restaurant if the wine is consumed with a meal.

If passed, the law would take effect July 1, 2011.

So how did this play out on the floor? Here’s a look at some of the testimony:

Jolene Ivey, official bill sponsor in the House of Delegates: The delegate cited concerns by restaurants that the ban is a burden to restaurants and pointed out that the practice is quite popular as a promotion elsewhere in the US. In addition, she identified Montgomery County as another jurisdiction exploring similar legislation for similar concerns about the burden on restaurants as they lose customers to DC.

Donnell Long: A restauranteur who feels that he is losing business to Washington, DC as patrons interested in the service pass over his restaurant in Upper Marlboro (Old Towne Restaurant).

Adam Borden: The well-known consumer advocate pointed out the discrepancy created by prohibiting corkage at a restaurant with a liquor license, which are trained to check IDs and not serve alcohol to minors, cannot offer corkage while restaurants that do not have such a license may provide the service.

In general there wasn’t any negative reaction or pushback from the floor or the delegation. I’m not sure if the stunned silence represents imminent approval or a need for the council to digest.

The Vinotrip take: As evidenced by the testimony, changing this law is good for businesses. Obviously choice is good for consumers. Adam’s point is also well taken; if anything, the current law is logically backwards in allowing non-licensed venues to permit BYO while licensed ones may not (although I’d hate to see closing that loophole as the only outcome of this debate!). The current amendments on the table in PG and Montgomery Counties will go a long way towards creating a more competitive environment for local restaurants. All in all, seems pretty reasonable.

However, why stop there? Allowing corkage statewide would offer similar benefits to restaurant owners looking to attract a new market segment or create innovative partnerships with local wineries and wine lovers – for example, a promotion to buy a bottle from Frederick Cellars in the historic district of downtown Frederick and then bring it over to one of the nearby restaurants. Or perhaps restaurants could invite local wine tasting groups to host events at which the chef prepares a menu tailored to the club’s wine list. Either of these would violate current laws if the restaurant in question held a liquor license. Ultimately I see a lot of potential winners from more sensible legislation.

That’s all for now – we should start to hear more details soon with the 2011 Annapolis session set to kick off in January. We’ll see how things look once the special interest groups start to weigh in…

Update: Adam tells me the Montgomery County hearing on Monday went well too, with delegates generally signalling some support at this stage in the game. See this story in the Gazette for more info.

12/06 Update: The Baltimore Sun published an op-ed today about the “flawed” laws banning corkage in Maryland.

Did you know that it’s illegal in Maryland to bring your own wine to dinner at a restaurant, a practice known as “corkage”, if that restaurant is already licensed to sell beer, wine or spirits? It’s true (although corkage IS legal for restaurants without a liquor license – go figure). Even if the wine you would bring isn’t featured on the wine list, say a 200-year-old Champagne recovered from a shipwreck near Finland, Maryland law does not allow liquor-licensed restaurants to set a policy allowing you to consume it on their premises.

Friends of all Maryland wine fans and consumer advocacy group Marylanders for Better Beer and Wine Laws are at it again, pushing to change laws and give those choices to restauranteurs and their patrons (with a little star power help from Frederick-area chef Bryan Voltaggio, he of Top Chef fame). The front lines in this battle are Montgomery and Prince George’s counties, where state delegates introduced bills in response to concerns from restaurant owners that they lose the BYOB crowd to DC, where corkage is legal. Both counties are looking to pass their own respective bills allowing the practice of corkage at restaurants.

Do you feel that restaurants should be allowed to set their own corkage policies to serve the needs of their patrons? If so, here are some opportunities to testify and make your voice heard:

Montgomery County – YOU MUST REGISTER BY 12PM ON MONDAY
7PM on Monday, December 6
3rd Floor Hearing Room, Stella Werner Council Office Bldg.
100 Maryland Ave.
Rockville, MD 20850
http://www.montgomerycountydelegation.com/testify.html
Bill #MC 13-11
Map to location

Prince George’s County – Register by emailing Del. Jolene Ivey (jolene.ivey@house.state.md.us)
7PM on Thursday, December 9
Rennie Forum (in the Largo Student Center)
Prince George’s Community College
301 Largo Rd
Largo, MD 20774

Bill #PG 305-11
Map to location

I’m attending the Prince George’s County hearing on Thursday to see what the people have to say – look for a post later this week!

The most surprising and promising sign is a shift in the position of the all-too-powerful committees that dictate so much of what the full body may or may not vote on during the spring session in Annapolis. We’ve given Senator Conway some lumps here on Vinotrip in the past for certain… obstacles she placed between the bill and a vote in 2010. But hey, it’s the holidays – let’s forgive and forget, shall we? Her newfound support for the bill could make all the difference.

Stay tuned as we gear up for next year’s sessions, and make sure you check out the Marylanders for Better Beer and Wine Laws (MBBWL) website for more extensive coverage and different ways you can support wine-friendly legislation. Don’t stop believing!

It’s election season in Maryland (I highly recommend early voting – no lines!) and that means it’s time to re-elect all of our state legislators. Will your vote be influenced by the direct wine shipping legislation? If you live in Senator Conway’s district, you should strongly consider it given her pocket veto of the consumer-friendly bill in the 2010 session.

I haven’t been able to find a comprehensive list of supporters and opponents of the 2010 bill (not sure one exists since the measure didn’t actually come up for a vote) but you can see from the listings on the House bill HB716 and Senate equivalent SB566 that each effort carried several and numerous sponsors. Vinotrip encourages you to take a look and reach out to your local candidates on the issue, particularly if they are not among the sponsors, to see what stance they plan to take on this issue in 2011. You can find a list of relevant committee members who would vote on such a bill (if given the opportunity) on the Marylanders for Better Beer and Wine Laws (MBBWL) website.

Signage at a local winery in Maryland supporting MBBWL

As you may recall from this post on the Free State Wine Project, Adam Borden resigned as executive director of consumer advocacy group Marylanders for Better Beer and Wine Laws (MBBWL) back in March amid accusations of… “aggressive” tactics in support of a bill that would have allowed direct shipments of wine to Maryland consumers (and wine bloggers). Despite Adam’s sacrifice – his only intention in stepping down was to allow the rest of the group to continue it’s work without any distractions – and all the effort on the part of MBBWL’s tireless volunteers, the bill ultimately never made it out of committee.

Now, MBBWL is gearing up for another push in 2011. The first step, of course, was bringing on a new executive director. Today the group named John Hesse, an experienced advocate at both the federal and state level in Maryland. It looks like John should have no trouble picking things up right away and moving the group even further toward a successful direct shipping bill. We wish him and all the supporters of MBBWL the best of luck during the next legislative session in what could be a very different political climate following state elections this fall.

You can read the complete announcement from MBBWL here and on their website at www.mbbwl.org. We’ll keep you posted on what you can do to help support direct wine shipping in Maryland as the opportunities arise.

The hearing to follow will be at 1pm before the House Economic Matters Committee. For more details contact MBBWL Director of Legislative Affairs Jennifer Levy at jlevy@mbbwl.org.

There is time for public comment during hearings so if you’re passionate about it, by all means go and testify before your state lawmakers. Remember, the issue at hand is not your right to getting something shipped to you. You can go on and on about the universe of wines that Maryland wine drinkers do not have access to and the argument will be completely moot. Non-wine enthusiasts do not understand that argument. Non-wine enthusiasts see that your local wine shop carries $100 Cabernet Sauvignon and wonder why winos make such a fuss about “no, not that $100 Cabernet, this other $100 Cabernet is the one I want.” The legislators have instead made it an issue about underage drinking, so be prepared to address that.

The bill would allow both wineries and retailers to ship up to 24 cases of wine to a Maryland resident per year and follows the protocols existing in other states for age verification and tax collection. There are roughly 6,500 wineries in the US. Only about 15% of these wineries can currently sell their product to Marylanders. Should the legislation become law, the estimated economic benefit to Maryland would be $1.5 million per fiscal year, largely from the collection of Maryland sales and excise taxes.

Much more wine shipping coverage coming, as well as coverage on other wine related bills facing the legislature this session.

Would anyone be able to spare a few hours this weekend to sign up new members for the organization at Wine in the Woods in Columbia? We really need help on Sunday with shifts open for 12-2, 2-4, and 4-6. Saturday is filling up but still some slots open there as well. Come on out, drink some wine, and help us grow MBBWL!

Contact Karla at karlaemd@yahoo.com if you’re interested.

From a purely selfish standpoint, volunteering at a festival is the way to go. You get great access to the company/product you’re helping promote, and you get to meet tons of people over the course of the day, and when the shift is over you’re in the festival for free. Beyond that, the Marylanders for Better Beer and Wine Laws have done a lot to help move the needle on Maryland Direct Wine Shipping. If you feel that’s a worthy cause (if you’re reading this, that’s a likely assumption) then go give them a few hours and help out.

Check out my notes on the Wine in the Woods event from 2008. Can’t make it this year, I’ll be at the beach.