Bill to Reduce Federal Excise Taxes on Alcohol Receives Support
Serious reductions on federal excise taxes on alcohol are being considered by Congress. For breweries, federal excise taxes would be reduced to “$3.50 per barrel on the first 60,000 barrels for domestic brewers who make fewer than 2 million barrels per year… $16 per...
Craft Spirits Acquisition: Constellation Brands Acquires High West Distillery
Utah-based High West Distillery was just acquired by Constellation Brands Inc., one of many leading suppliers who is continuing to fuel the trend of craft acquisitions. Constellation paid approximately $160 million for the craft producer, who has made a name for...
The TTB’s New Exemptions for Pre-COLA Requirements & Formula Approvals
This past week, the TTB released Industry Circular 2016-01, which details exemptions for certain pre-COLA requirements for certain alcohol products. The two pre-COLA requirements in question are formula approvals and laboratory analysis. The TTB highly suggested...
PA to allow direct shipping from abroad
Pennsylvania is the first state to allow international wineries direct shipping to residents. The other 43 states that have also enacted direct shipping only allow shipping from domestic wineries. “The changes were part of Act 39, an alcohol law overhaul that granted...
E-Commerce Site for Alcohol Started by Drizly
First there was Amazon, now there’s Drizly. It will be hard for another online retailer to compete with Drizly when it comes to selling alcohol online. Three years ago Drizly started as an app, similar to Uber, for on-demand delivery of alcohol in the US. The online...
N. California Winery Mergers Expected to Continue
Expect large wine companies to continue to acquire smaller wineries as they look to expand into the premium US wine segment. Roger Nabedian, who is a general manager at E&J Gallo, said, "I do think we are seeing another generational change, particularly up here in...
East Coast Wine Import Volumes Increase
A slow start to the peak shipping season (mid-summer) has turned around as the volume of European imported goods has risen since July, especially for Italian and French wines. The Port Authority of New York noted a record setting month for total volume at the port....
Control State Insights August 2016 Prove Strong
As the final numbers roll in from August, the statistics show the summer ended on a high note for distilled spirits in the control markets. The numbers were higher than the rest of the three months of summer. In fact, growth was in the double digits according to...
Liquor reforms shake up PA beverage alcohol landscape
Pennsylvania is expanding the places consumers will be able to purchase wine due to Act 39. Grocery stores will now be able to apply for licenses to sell wine, state liquor stores can stay open longer on Sundays as well as be open on certain holidays, and wineries can...