Driving me to (writing about) drink
What with the state of politics--we still have another year of George W. Bush--and the state of journalism, what's a blogger to do but turn to (writing about) drink?
I saw this story in the Toronto Globe and Mail tonight. We in the Keystone State complain often about the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board, or PLCB, but at least they let us buy cheap wine--to a point. The Liquor Control Board of Ontario, or LCBO, for a time had a policy of barring sales of any wine priced less than $10.95. The article says that policy is being lifted, giving Canadians access to wine from "value regions" like Australia, South Africa, and Portugal.
Portugal? Hmmm. I was at the PLCB Wine and Spirits store in Lemoyne, Pa., today and don't recall seeing a section of Portugese wine. Spain, yes, Italy, yes, France, of course, but nothing from that other country on the Iberian Penninsula. The only Portugese wines I recall tasting in Pennsylvania were samples sent for a story a couple of years ago by Lost Vineyards, which hoped to get their fine $1.99 wines into the State Stores. Nice try, fellas. I organized a tasting among my Shipoke neighbors and the verdict was, not bad. Great labels, too. Most of their wines then came from Portugal. They've since branched out to Spain and Argentina as well.
The PLCB turned them down because they were too cheap, cheaper even than their fine offerings in the Mad Dog category. Lost Vineyards, aka Brothers International of Batavia, N.Y., insisted that the uniform retail price be $1.99. The PLCB said that wasn't possible given the great amount of tax it normally applies to a bottle of wine here.
I always tell people that if we have to have a state store system, the ones we have today, at least in the larger cities and suburbs, are a decent compromise. Pretty good selection, okay prices, especially on the Chairman's Selection wines. They're a far cry from the State Stores of yore.
When I moved to the state in 1975, the State Store in Shamokin, Pa., was the way they all were. You'd walk in and be brought up short by a counter across the width of the store. You had to tell the clerk what you wanted--no browsing allowed. If you asked for a wine recommendation, he'd toss a mimeographed product and price list across the counter. Recommendations were verboten under law. Today, all the stores are self-service and they get around the recommendation prohibition by clipping out Wine Spectator ratings and taping them to the edge of the shelf. Heck, the store in Lemoyne occasionally has wine tastings, as shocking as that sounds.
What would improve things would be an across the board tax reduction to bring the regular retail prices down to roughly those charged in Maryland and Delaware. Stop turning Pennsylvanians into bootleggers and give them decent prices on booze. You could run for governor on that platform.