Rhode Island Ranks Poorly For Wine Drinkers
Saturday, August 24, 2013
While Rhode Island wine drinkers may love their local vineyards and wine shops, it turns out that Rhode Island is one of the worst-ranked states in the country for wine lovers, according to a new report from The American Wine Consumer Coalition in Washington, DC.
The report, called "Consuming Concerns", both grades and ranks each state based on how friendly its wine laws are for consumers. Rhode Island pulled a failing grade--an 'F'--and ranked #44 overall, tied with neighboring Massachusetts.
In summary, "Rhode Island law severely limits consumer access to wine," according to the report. "Rhode Islanders may not purchase in grocery stores, nor may they have wine shipped directly to them from wineries or wine retailers. The result is severely limited access to a diversity of wines and significant inconvenience." The only area in which Rhode Island gained some points was in the Coalition's assessment of government control, where there's none.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTGrading wine friendliness
To rank each state, the Coalition assigned certain set of points for each way it met consumer needs on six issues:
1. Winery Shipping
2. No State Monopoly on Wine Sales
3. Retailer Shipping
4. Sunday Wine Sales
5. Bringing Wine Into Restaurants
6. Wine Sales in Grocery Stores
If a state did not meet consumer expectations on any of these six issues, it received no ranking points for that issue. On the issue of bringing wine into restaurants, states might receive partial point allocation when the conduct was allowed but only under specific, restrictive conditions. Points up to 100 maximum were then translated into a letter grade based on a typical grading scale.
Least + most friendly wine states
Along with Rhode Island and Massachusetts, the Top 10 Least Friendly States for Wine Lovers are Indiana, South Dakota, Delaware, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Utah. On the friendlier end of the spectrum, the Top 10 are, in descending order: California, District of Columbia, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Oregon, Virginia, Louisiana, Nevada, Alaska-Tie for 10th, and Wyoming-Tie for 10th.
For more details on Rhode Island's wine laws as well as those of the other 6 New England states, see the slides, below.
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