Supreme Court Upholds Personal Liquor Consumption Tax

By an 8-1 vote, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld as constitutional on Friday the controversial Personal Liquor Consumption Act (PLCA), which had been approved by Congress in 2029.

The $20 per person annual PLC tax was approved mainly to raise revenue and is estimated to have added $4 billion a year to the federal treasury in the last seven years.

Many groups challenged the tax, some saying that it has done nothing to stem the rising tide of alcoholism in the United States, which is now at an all-time high.

The major proponent of the tax was M. Stanley Volstead (R-Texas), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, whose great-grandfather, Andrew J. Volstead, was the man who proposed Prohibition in 1918.

The new act was widely seen as a legal way to impose restrictions on all alcoholic beverages without running the risks of the 18th amendment, the so-called Dry Law. The PLC is called the Off-Dry Law.

Though the government reaps huge tax revenues from the measure, the Supreme Court in its ruling said it need not use any of that money for alcoholic beverage education.

The lone holdout in the Supreme Court ruling was Clarence Thomas, who said in rebuttal, “I really dont understand what this fuss is about. Whats wrong with just prohibiting the manufacture and sale of all alcoholic beverages?”

Sales of Riesling Rosé Grow, Top 20 Million Cases a Year

 Demand for Riesling Rosé and its companion, Riesling Blush, increased to more than 20 million cases last year, according to a research report.

The wine, which the government recently approved as a semi-generic, since 2027 has not required the use of any Riesling grapes, and may be made with up to 30% apple juice.

It has been the target of much criticism on the Extranet, notably by wine collectors who say the growing use of apple juice in wine is a nasty plot by major wine companies.

The governments six-man Wine Label Approval Commission, made up of former jug wine producers, has already announced that it is seeking public comment on its plan to permit certain wines that are labeled as “table wine” to contain as much as 50% water. At present, the maximum amount permitted in wine is 30%.

“Global warming has reduced the yield of wine grapes over the last two decades,” said commission Chairman Ivan Ben Dover, “and this plan will help those struggling wineries to continue to make pleasing wines.”

Consumer groups, headed by wine collector/activist/actor Paul Reubens, said Riesling Rosé is “an abomination and should be banned, not promoted as fine wine.”

He added that it was bad enough when the commission allowed cane sugar to be used in such products in 2011. To allow the wine to be made and sold as Riesling Rosé without any Riesling used in the wine is an outrage.

Alaskan Cabernet Rated No. 1 By Wine Spectator

A Cabernet Sauvignon by Alaskas Whale Blubber Vineyards has been listed as the No. 1 Wine of the Year by “Wine Spectator.”

A Port from Sweden, and a Shiraz from the Mosel Valley were Nos. 2 and 3 on the list.

“Global warming has made a big difference in the terroir of many of our most popular grape varieties,” said Marvin Shanken, longtime publisher of the publication. “Our reviewers were really wowed by a Wisconsin Syrah and a Merlot from the Yukon,” he said, adding that the complete demise of ice wines is sad.

“But nobody was buying it anyhow,” he noted.

Magnetic Device Removes Tannins in Red Wines

A wine lover and physicist has released what he calls “Lasermagnet” that uses two technologies to soften red wines without the long aging that once was a problem.

The laser transmagnifies positive ions and the magnet removes burrs that make tannins rough, he says. Price of the gadget is $125 and uses no electricity.

Of course, aging of red wines no longer is needed since a Sebastopol science lab in 2012 invented a “light filter” that removes tannins and replaces them with “sweet-free” sugar molecules that makes the wine succulent at bottling.

Also, the Wine Wand has been selling well in the last few years.

Cabernet Biodiesel Firms Public Offering Sold Out

Stock in Napa Biodiversity Inc., which in 2022 built a controversial power plant atop Mt. St. Helena, was a rapid sell-out in its initial public offering.

The company, which makes fuel from Cabernet and Merlot grapes, was selling at three times its $125 offer price just 24 hours after an early sell-out of its 200 million shares of common stock.

The decline in sales of Cabernet from Napa (blamed largely on consumer ennui) led four key Napa family members to found the company to make auto fuels.

Bio fuels were seen as necessary in 2020 when the Iraq War entered its 18th year with no end in sight.

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