From RealClear Investigations:

Elsewhere, other liberalization efforts have chipped away, in some form, at the strict division of functions under the three-tier system.

Those lines between producer, distributor and retailer were first blurred in the 1970s as California wineries used the growing popularity of wine tourism to push for the ability to sell a souvenir bottle or allow tastings during tours, said Jarrett Dieterle, a policy expert at the R Street Institute, a free market think tank. The subsequent rise of brewpubs, and most recently craft distillers and breweries, continued the trend.

Featured Publications