Wine Legislation

The National Wholesale Liquor Dealers Association of America helped launch a campaign to prevent legislation that would hamper winemakers’ efforts to sell their products. This letter from the Association discusses the proposed Hepburn-Dolliver Bill, H. R. 4072. The bill sought to allow individual states the power to tax, prevent, or otherwise regulate shipments of alcohol from out of state as if they were local. While this bill did not pass, over 100 years later state shipping laws continue to cause headaches for the wine industry.

U.S. Senator Moynihan of New York writes New York winery owner and advocate John Martini about an increase in the liquor excise tax. Federal legislators representing New York State have long taken an active role in advocating for their home state’s wine industry. By lobbying lawmakers in Albany, winemakers have been able to effect changes in laws across the state and in Washington, D.C.

Restrictive laws and regulations took their toll on many wine companies. In 1922, the Hammondsport Wine Cellars became so mired in debt that the owners closed the winery and left town, leaving the property to be sold at public auction. Many cases of wine abandoned in the factory were relabeled with foreign labels and sold without the required license and permits. As this news clipping reports, the local sheriff’s office seized over 300 cases of the remaining wine. A portion of the proceeds from the auction was used to pay taxes on the wine that was unlawfully removed.

The Urbana Wine Company of Urbana, N.Y., made sure that the bottles of wine it gave away would not be subject to taxation or regulations governing commercial sales.

Not all wine regulation is intended to tax or otherwise restrain the distribution of the final product. Some regulations stem from a desire to protect consumers from deceptive or inferior products. When manufacturers realized that they could carbonate still wine to quickly and cheaply produce a product similar to champagne, “fake” sparkling wines began appearing in the marketplace. By forcing carbonic acid, made by combining sulfuric acid and marble dust, into wine, producers could mimic the bubbly effect of champagne without the long and expensive bottle fermentation process. More ethical establishments like the American Wine Company of St. Louis, Missouri, which made genuine sparkling wine, lobbied heavily for laws that would make the fake wines illegal. As can be seen in this letter to the founder of Pleasant Valley Wine Company, the concerns extended to the perceptions of consumers who bought fake wine thinking it was the genuine article. Some producers took a step further by bottling fake wine and using other established companies’ labels to enable them to sell the wine at a higher price.

In this promotional brochure, R. T. Underhill, M.D., tries to capitalize on the public’s fear of buying fake or impure wine. He trumpets the purity of Croton Point wines of the Hudson Valley, and includes testimonials and press clippings about the hazards of “doubtful [wines] of foreign names and domestic origin with which we commonly (dis-) grace our tables.” Mr. Underhill even solicits a plug from a surgeon who warns against the consumption of “vile” inferior wine.

Widmer Wine Cellars. New York State License, 1954.
[zoom]

Although ninety years separate these two documents, they share a common purpose. The license certificates shown here enabled these wineries to legally conduct their business while paying government fees connected with the license application.

Wine companies could sometimes increase sales by touting the health benefits of their products. This was especially important during Prohibition, when wine produced for “medicinal” purposes remained legal, though regulated, helping to keep some companies solvent during the 1920s and early 1930s. The number of orders from customers requesting wine for their own or a family member’s ailment dramatically increased during Prohibition.

The sale of wine to churches for religious services also remained legal during Prohibition. With recommendations from bishops and rabbis as selling points, wine by the barrel, and occasionally the railroad tank car, could be sent to “church.” Sales of sacramental wine soared. While Prohibition shuttered some businesses, congregations--legitimate or not--meant others managed to survive.