Thursday, September 16, 2004

No eBay for wine selling!!

Isn't that interesting..
Regulators for now are targeting only people selling what they deem to be large quantities of wine. But the crackdown points up the uncomfortable fact that there is no legal framework for consumers to buy and sell wine from each other -- on the Internet or off.
But that has not stopped the federal regulators.

Neil Monnens, a San Francisco ad executive and wine buff, decided last year that his taste was veering away from Bordeaux and Napa Valley Cabernets. So he went online and sold 500 cases of his 2,000-case collection at WineCommune.com.

In late August, Monnens received a letter from the federal Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB), the successor agency to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, asking for the money. An estimated 50 to 75 WineCommune members received similar notices, which they are entitled to appeal.

Read the full story at "Feds bust collectors who sell wine online." (SFGate.com)