WIGS – Jersey Gets It!
Watching Ken Burns’ latest PBS documentary, Prohibition, brought to mind New York State’s outdated ban on selling wine in grocery stores. Although the 18th Amendment was repealed 78 years ago, the New York ban remains in effect.
The ban is anti-business, anti-consumer and hurts the state’s wine producers.
Meanwhile, across the Hudson river, Whole Foods Market shoppers can purchase
local wines from New York’s Finger Lakes region. On shelves marked “Local – Finger Lakes” I was able to find red and white wines from Ravines and Fox Run. I left Whole Foods with a pound of wild trout, French bread, fresh vegetables and a fine Ravines riesling for my Saturday night dinner.
As a son of NY, I strongly urge Governor Andrew Cuomo to follow the example of his dad, Mario, who championed New York vineyards by enacting legislation permitting the sale of wine coolers in grocery stores. Gov. Cuomo’s NY Open for Business campaign should apply to our great vineyards as well.
The ban on wine in grocery stores is a vestige of a bygone era. New York must embrace this new century with both arms. And the next time a New Yorker thinks about one-stop shopping in New Jersey for dinner, the sign at the GWB will read, “Fuhgit about it!”
