TRAVESSIA Winery Blog

Three kick-ass events in one week

Three upcoming events that I want to tell you about:

Baggins End Guest House Grand Opening
Sunday, May 31st, 2009 ~ 1P.M. - 5P.M.
2 West Street, Fairhaven, MA 02719
Join Travessia Winery for a fabulous afternoon of wine, appetizers and music as we celebrate the grand opening of the Baggins End Guest House, located on the harbor and point of Oxford Village in Historic Fairhaven, Massachusetts.  Private Event - RSVP Only!  Please call Travessia at 774-929-6534 or email info@travessiawine.com to RSVP
Important:  There is no parking at the Baggins End Guest House, so you must either park and walk there OR take the water taxi from Niemiec Marine Boat Yard (Pope’s Island Entrance before Foxy Lady).

Why you should go… complimentary wine, food, music, even the short boat ride is included! AND it looks like we “nailed” the date weather wise… it’s going to be a gorgeous day.

Travessia Retail Premiere/Launch at Bin Ends
Tuesday, June 2th, 2009 ~ 6:30PM - 8:00PM
Bin Ends, 236 Wood Road, Braintree, MA
From Bin Ends press release:  "On June 2, Travessia founder and Portugese-born winemaker Marco Montez will join Bin Ends in-store to celebrate a special tasting event. Bin Ends' John Hafferty and Montez will lead the tasting of the four new Travessia wines, two Vidal Blancs and two Chardonnays."

Why you should go… Bin Ends is one of the top wine stores in the country.  Period

Coastal Wine Trail Kick-Off
Sunday, June 7th, 2009 ~ 1P.M. - 3P.M.
Sakonnet Vineyards, Little Comption, Rhode Island
Sakonnet Vineyards will host this year’s Southeastern New England Coastal Wine Trail Kick-off event under one tent at their winery in Little Compton, RI.  Travessia Winery will be joining the other 7 wineries of the Coastal Wine Trail in promoting the beginning of this year’s Passport season.  Price $40.00 per person with advance ticket purchase.  Call Sakonnet Vineyards at 401-635-8486, ext:116 to purchase or reserve your ticket.

Why you should go… Taste the best each of the Coastal Wine Trail wineries have to offer in one location.

If you have any questions about these events, please don't hesitate to contact us.  If you can’t make it to at least one of these events… something is wrong with you :-)

So that heroin addicts can have a bed to sleep in?

Early this week the Massachusetts state senate approved the increase of the state sales tax from 5% to 6.25%.  That alone is upsetting given the level of taxation that the citizens of Massachusetts are already subjected to and the way some of the tax funds are spent.  But how about this… alcohol sales tax has now increased from 0% to 6.25%.  That’s because alcohol sales were until now exempt from sales tax at the register.  This exemption has now been removed.  Just like that, my $16 bottle of Chardonnay went up by 6.25% to $17, obviously decreasing my wine’s quality to price ratio besides other negative impacts to Travessia as a business.

Some may argue that it’s only fair that alcohol gets taxed like everything else.  But here is the problem...  Massachusetts lawmakers won't tell you this, but there is already a tax on alcohol!

Wineries for example pay a tax for producing wine to both the Federal and State government.  What do you think that we the wineries do with this tax?  We factor it into our pricing.  In the end, the consumer pays for it.  Now with another 6.25% added on top... I think we call this double taxation.

I understand and agree that we have social responsibilities and must pay taxes.  I've always paid my taxes as a citizen and as a business owner.  Not a single penny goes under the table.  But where do we stop?  Why 6.25% and not 8%?  10%?  15%

To finish, this is a quote from a Boston Globe article on May 20th (Find the entire article here)

<<The alcohol tax was approved with support from lawmakers who said it would raise $15 million to ameliorate what they described as a heroin epidemic in Massachusetts.  "When we have an addict, we'll have a bed for them," said Senator Steven A. Tolman, a Boston Democrat. "This money will help us put these beds on line.">>

Like many, my work day begins at 6AM and ends the following day... So that heroin addicts can have a bed to sleep in?

UPDATE on May 22nd - 1PM: Just found out about this... maybe I should just give it up right now: Proposed US alcohol tax increases

BYOB - Still confusing

My post on the BYOB topic from April 22, 2008 is the one which has brought most readers to this blog via search engine referral sites as google and yahoo.  This is interesting on its own and even more if you read some of the search phrases which lead people here:

BYOB policy in paris france
BYOB set up fee
Massachusetts BYOB legal
byo illegal in massachusetts
Illinois law on byob and cork fee
legality of byob in california
states that permit byob or corkage
byob bar insurance
nyc byob laws
byob only licenses new york state
corkage fees legal boston
byob illegal states
corkage illinois illegal

To this day, visitors are still landing on the Travessia Winery Blog after searching information on BYOB.  When I wrote my post a year ago, two things became apparent to me:

1.    The laws that govern BYOB across America vary from state to state, city to city, town to town AND are extremely confusing.
2.    There is an opportunity to fulfill people’s need for BYOB information.

I don’t expect states or cities within states to get on the same page about this topic and pass legislation that would make it easier for consumers and restaurants to clearly understand the legality of BYOB.  Cities have more important issues to deal with these days anyway.  (Though they could use BYOB as another form of tax revenue...)

But I still think that there is an opportunity for an entrepreneur with some spare time to address the need of so many people who continue to search and seek out information on BYOB.  Anyone?

What excites you about Massachusetts wine?

A couple of weeks ago I had the pleasure to pour Travessia wines at the Boston Wine School as a small group gathered to meet Alan Kropf, one of the founders of Mutineer Magazine.  As always, it was a blast to meet new people and introduce them to my wines.  At the end, Alan asked me a few questions, interview style.  One of his questions was...

What excites you about Massachusetts wine?

I came way not feeling very good about myself for the way I answered.  It bugged me to the point that I could not stop thinking about it on the drive home.  I know what excites me about Travessia wines, downtown New Bedford, winemaking as a full time profession, etc., but I’ve never stopped to think as to what excites me about Massachusetts wine as a whole.  I know that with every day that passes, the “local” aspect of Travessia wines becomes more essential to everything I do.  But how can I explain my growing passion and excitement for wines made with 100% Massachusetts-grown grapes?

By the time I slipped into bed I had put into words what I should have told Alan.  Here’s what excites me...

The possibility that one day Massachusetts can consistently produce wines which are characteristic of our state.  Wines that people can remember as unique Massachusetts wine.  Wines that people can pick up whenever they are looking for that certain characteristic taste… take a sip and say, “yeah, this is it, this is Massachusetts wine”.

I say one day because, with all due respect for the people who have been doing this here in the Mass. for much longer than I have, I don’t think that we have solidified the Massachusetts wine character just yet.  It could take decades to determine what “it” is.

You the consumers have an important say in deciding the character of Massachusetts-grown wine because you play a critical role in the funding and sustaining of the exploratory work that is happening today.  With your hard earned dollars.  At the same time you will be the "judges" responsible for separating the good from the bad.  As importantly you'll sooner or later be able to separate the authentic Massachusetts wine from the fake wines being produced in Massachusetts.

How cool would it be if one day Massachusetts had its own page in the book of the world’s distinctive and unique wine growing regions?  I’m excited to be part of the discovery and exploration, who knows maybe even help shape it.  But above all, I’m excited about the “possibility”.