In article > ,
"Dark Helmet" > wrote:

> ...really suck. I just moved from Colorado to Ohio and now have to deal
> with two issues:
>
> 1. No shipping direct from wineries.
> 2. I don't know if the rest of you are aware of this, but I just found out
> that all wine in Ohio retail stores has to be marked up 130% from the
> wholesale price. This is the law in Ohio. Now it doesn't apply to beer or
> spirits, just wine. Every wine establishment I have tried has had prices
> way, way above what I used to pay in Colorado at any of Lucas Liquor,
> Applejacks, Davidson's, Argonauts or County Line. I'm finding typical
> prices 30-50% more than I paid in Colorado. Not to mention that the
> selection is awful in Ohio due to, I would believe, the inability to sell
> much wine at these prices.
>
> All I can say is that this really, really sucks.
>
> Ok, now that I have that off my chest, I have a question in regards to #1.
> Someone told me that if I have the wine shipped to a place of business, it
> would be ok to buy direct from a winery. I find this hard to believe, but
> does anyone have any insight on this? Outside of that, how the hell do I
> get my hands on decent, correctly priced wine in Ohio?
>
> Lastly, what the heck is going on nowadays in regards to all these outdated
> laws?

You have three main groups to thank...

a) the liquor and wine wholesale distributors, who want to continue
their stranglehold on the spirits monopoly.

b) The politicians, who are either in bed with the distributors or will
be unwilling to lose out on any opportunity to tax you (or both)

and c) the damned prohibitionists, who are still at it after all these
years.

The Texas Supreme Court just struck down the laws banning home
deliveries (WOOOHOOOO!) so I can now get wines from those obscure out of
state wineries that the wholesale distributors wouldn't touch due to
their lack of interest in ordering anything less than a truckload.

I feel your pain. C'mon down here to the Lone Star State. GWB stays
far away (mostly), BBQ is the best in the world, booze is cheap,
compared to up north, though not nearly as cheap as it is next door in
Louisiana.
La.'s legal code is a bit dated though, so I can't recommend living
there.