In vino veritas...

In Virginia any  new laws that have been thrashed out by the legislature go into effect on July 1st. There were two this year that caught my eye because when taken together, they just don't seem to make any sense.

In the first one, a special law was passed to allow Chuck Miller and Belmont Farms Distillery to brew AND sell "moonshine" right on site at his farm. Since as long ago as I can remember the sale of hard liquor has only been legal when it is sold in state ABC stores. Now we have a law introduced and approved for one individual and one particular commercial enterprise allowing Mr. Miller and his wife to bypass whatever controls are exercised by the ABC people.

In theory, I have no problem with this. Get the government the hell out of whatever areas we can. Yet in the same session of the legislature they pass yet another piece of legislation requiring Virginia wineries to sell their product through distributors rather than direct to the retailers. This came as a result of a Supreme Court decision which said in essence it was un-Constitutional for the state to require wineries outside Virginia to sell through beverage distributors and at the same time allow in-state wineries to sell direct to retailers.

Virginia's wine industry is growing and the state is fast becoming well known for the quality of the wine it produces. Government meddling at both the state and federal level has created so many "Catch 22s" that the viability of new enterprises is seriously threatened.

So as we discussed this at coffee one morning, the question of why this happened was answered with, "It's Virginia, that's why." The longer answer would probably have something to do with the fact that the distributors have the money to lobby politicians.