Winebits 295: Liquor stores, riesling, Canada

? Prepare for a rant: Marketwatch, which usually does a decent job of covering the business world, decided to do one of those ?Let ?s write a story because it sounds good even though it isn ?t much true ? pieces ? ?Could liquor stores go the way of bookstores The difference, regardless of anything else, is that wine sales are regulated and books sales aren ?t, something that isn ?t mentioned until the fourth from the final paragraph of the story. There ?s also the cost of shipping, which isn ?t mentioned at all. Sometimes, I wonder what assignment editors are thinking of when they do these stories. This piece is so bad that it immediately becomes a finalist for a Curmudgie.

? Getting a handle on riesling: Mike Veseth at the Wine Economist has a nice look at the dilemma facing riesling, which is sweet but not popular, made in weird places, and known pretty much only to Germans and wine geeks. He did a panel where they tasted great riesling from Idaho. Ah, go Drink Local.

? Love those Canadian liquor laws: Canada, which did not have Prohibition but still ended up with a highly regulated retail liquor system, always offers a good example that makes us feel better about three-tier. Witness this, from a study that says the Ontario provincial store system drives up beer prices by as much as C$9.50 a case. To make the results even more ironic, the study was paid for by a convenience store trade group that wants to sell beer. And we know how cheap beer is at convenience stores, don ?t we?