What committee?
Mike,
No assignment yet. But it’s likely to be the Licensing Committee in the House.
Tom…
I should put this out there too. Before the bill is assigned to a committee the best way to signal your support is to call the sponsor, Matt Rinaldi. The best way to get in contact with him is to reach out to his legislative aid, Jordan Long: Jordan.Long@house.texas.gov
Once a committee is assigned, wholesalers will try to convince the chair of that committee to not have a hearing at all. So pressure needs to be applied with phone calls to the chair and other representatives on the committee and in the media. I got the media covered. But I can’t keep calling and changing my voice 
Tom…
Tom,
We HAD a really good customer that is fairly connected in TX politics. I contacted her and she & friends will be reaching out to their connections in hopes of helping with this.
I worked for Spec’s for 7 years. They did (probably still do) lots of winery direct business by skipping distributors or by using them solely for clearing product.
The entire time I worked there, I’d say the large majority of the most interesting wines were brought in this way, directly. The large distributors were only good for special orders and stocking grocery store type wines.
Not sure which location is closest to you, but if you’re not satisfied with the selection it’s either a bad store or things have changed. In my years there, winery direct brands were Vega Sicilia, Williams Selyem, Lannesan, Altamura, Fontodi, JJ Prum, Pegua, Storybook Mountain, Saint Cosme, Clos Mogador, Remoissenet…I’ll stop there.
Not sure/don’t care how this will affect the market as I’m no longer in Texas or retail.
My guy (Birdwell) sits on the business and commerce committee, I assume that might be where it lands. I’ve talked to one person in his local office-she loves wine and has seen the movie Somm and she was shocked how the system is set up and really shocked you can’t purchase at auction and have it shipped, she put me in touch with the legislative aid and we’ve spoken twice. I’m trying to get Birdwell to co sponsor. I’m going to call every day. I’ll call Rinaldi tomorrow.
I spoke with Rinaldi’s legislative administrator this morning and he said the bill has good buzz, it’s first stop will be on the regulatory committee. According to him Rinaldi gave an interview with the Houston chronicle specifically about the bill that will run on Wednesday. I contacted two reporters with the Dallas Morning News who had written previous articles concerning the wine business and suggested it would be nice to have story in his hometown paper, so we’ll see.
Doing all I can.
Emails sent all around, including folks that used to work at the Capitol. Fingers crossed.
Really appreciate everyone’s help and work on this.
This just came out of the Houston Chronicle:
It’s a good piece. It will help spread the word.
The next step is a committee assignment for the bill. When that happens, it’s likely that consumers will be directed to contact the committee chairperson asking to schedule a hearing, while the Spnosors works on getting co-sponsors and a companion bill in the Senate.
Tom…
I think you meant the Houston Press. ![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers"){kind=small}
I think it’s actually better to have coverage on the Houston Press - the Houston Chronicle has a paywall, which is a pain.
The Houston Press is free to access, so it should get a fair number of online views and get shared online.
This would be fantastic - go democracy go.
Bryce,
Yes. You are absolutely correct. The Post.
It’s not perfect but here’s a TV news report on the Texas wine shipping bill out of Lubbock.
They are already able to ship within the state, per my understanding (is that wrong)? but the bill would introduce a lot of out of state competition (K&L, etc.) to the big local wine shops.
As another poster mentioned, Spec’s specifically does a lot of winery direct business. they aren’t going to be real excited about losing that type of market control. and they definitely know what kind of power they wield over the producers and distributors who are eager to get shelf space in Spec’s locations, same for HEB the large grocer that sells tons of the lower end wines (of course their customers aren’t likely to go online and buy a case of Cupcake or whatever else they are buying weekly)
Texas is a massive wine market. I’m curious to see how this plays out. Personally, i would love to be ordering from Wine Exchange and K&L on certain products many of which either aren’t available here or are much more expensive locally.
Kirk,
It’s not just those wines that are not in the market or are more expensive in the market. Often times a product will only come into the state in very limited quantities and will sell out quickly to restaurants and collectors. So, it might be available in the state, but pretty quick it’s not available. But, do a little search and you’ll find the same bottle at a small retailer in some other state.
Agree, Tom.
be curious to see how this plays out. unfortunately, I’ve got no real state legislature contacts
That is not quite accurate. Certain types of retail licenses (I believe it’s Q - Package Store Permit (Wine Only)) allow shipping within certain distance from the licensee’s address or county. Pogo’s in Dallas is a good example – I tried to buy some wine from them but they informed me their license doesn’t allow them to ship to Austin. It’s ridiculous.
It looks like Morgan Meyer (R) is now co-sponsoring the bill?
If he is I’ll call his office today.
Yes, Representative Meyer has signed on as a sponsor…in large part due to constituent outreach. Hopefully more coming.
No, The Press.