The wine industry has lost an important voice in Washington. After 16 years in the nation's capital, Bill Nelson is leaving WineAmerica, the only trade group that represents the entire U.S. wine industry. Nelson, who has been the group's president since 2005, has fought the good fight for direct shipping, federal support for viticulture research, and other important issues that have helped the industry grow so dramatically over the past two decades.
Now, Nelson is a victim of the economic recession, as membership in WineAmerica has slipped and wineries feeling the pinch have cut back on paying their membership dues. With HR 5034 now before Congress and the well-financed wholesalers always looking for opportunities to turn back gains on direct shipping, this is an unfortunate time for the industry to downsize its champion.
Nelson looks back on his tenure in Washington in my column in today's Washington Post
Too bad Bill didn't have fire in his belly for direct shipping back in the 1990s when John Hinman and I started the direct shipping fight. Bill and American Vintners Association AKA Wine America played footsie with WSWA and got snookered into believing wine could negotiate with them when WSWA had all the political power -- the only way to win, as we proved, was to take the issue to the courts. AVA never really got on board because they tried to play belt-way politics instead of getting nasty and really fighting back.
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"Per-capita consumption of wine by Americans will continue to rise, but if these small wineries are to continue to thrive, direct shipping is crucial."
Posted by: Bill McIver | August 12, 2010 at 01:52 PM