Minnesota Municipal Beverage Association Newsletter
(October 12, 2014 - October 18, 2014)
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As I See It...

As we head into the fall, it becomes wine season for many of us.  

 

So I thought it would be best for us to look at the wine in our stores to see if any of our wines are at the end of their shelf life.  

 

As I have visited stores in the last couple weeks, I realized we have product on our shelf past their prime.  

 

So here is a list of life span for whites and reds:

 

Unopened wines                           Shelf Stored (Past Printed Date)

  • Bottled White Wine                 1-2 years
  • Bottled Red Wine                    2-3 years
  • Boxed Wine                             1 year
  • Fine Wine lasts for                Decades in a wine cellar

So you are probably wondering what constitutes as a fine wine?  

 

I have read many articles that state only 1% of wines are able to be stored for long periods of time.  

 

They are what they call the sturdy red wines like cabernets and some of the finest reds from France, Spain and Italy.

 

Most wines we sell are not considered a "fine wine".  

 

As one article I read stated "MOST WINE SHOULD NOT BE AGED."

 

Winemakers want consumers to buy their wine, drink it and then go buy more.  

 

How many of us buy wine, forget about it and drink it the next holiday or special occasion?

 

How can you tell if a wine is bad?  

 

In many cases you can tell just by looking at the contents of the bottle:

  • color of the liquid (usually cloudy)
  • "dusty" settlement in the bottom of the bottle
  • leaky cork

Another thing to consider is if bottles are standing up or are your bottles in a lay down display?  

 

How the wine is stored makes it last longer as the cork will not dry out when the bottle is laying down versus standing up.  

 

If a cork does dry out it lets oxygen into the bottle thus turning the wine.

 

For wine to be stored for long periods it must remain at a constant temperature between 50-55 degrees Fahrenheit.

 

So you may wonder, how does your store look?  

 

How many old wines are on my shelves?  

 

You may either mark them down or you may even have to dump them out.  

 

Whatever you decide it certainly is worth looking at.  

 

The last thing you want is to have a customer return a wine that is bad that you have on your shelf.

 

John Jacobi

Isanti Liquor 

Lakeville Liquors Food Drive Challenge
Food Drive

The success of the MMBA Community Value initiatives (Coat Drive, Military Supplies, Animal Supplies and Food Drive) depends on the promotional efforts of the participating facilities.

Check out this video to see how Lakeville Liquors is encouraging customer contributions.


 Click Here to See Video 

What Happens When Liquor Licensees Operate Outside Their Boundaries?
Question

 

By Pamela Erickson

Healthy Alcohol Marketplace 

 

Liquor Licenses are designed to reduce problem behavior by patrons.   

 

One of those problems is patrons leaving a bar intoxicated or drinking products immediately outside a store and becoming intoxicated.   

 

Both these situations can result in disturbances to the community making public spaces off limits to children and families.   

 

Nearby parks may be littered and vegetation damaged.  Community businesses may lose customers.

 

One strategy that should not be overlooked in dealing with these conditions is the requirements of businesses licensed to sell alcohol.  Some may be operating outside their licensed privileges.

 

Recently, the City of Las Vegas had that problem.   

 

Some years ago that city invested over $21 million to create a public entertainment space in the downtown area.  They worked with five casinos to create the space that allowed outdoor bars and several stages for free live entertainment.   

 

It worked well at first and in 2009 was voted the best family entertainment venue.   

 

But, then the city gave liquor licenses to several souvenir shops.   

 

These shops started aggressively advertising and selling cheap single cans of alcohol.  Large ads were placed in front so they were highly visible from the street.  Clerks encouraged immediate consumption by offering to open the can or bottle before the patron left the store.

 

This practice changed the behavior and clientele.   

 

Intoxication and crime increased.  Panhandlers and street performers arrived...some with few clothes on.  Families were driven away, tourists wrote nasty reviews, and business declined.   

 

Eventually the City adopted new ordinances prohibiting some of the practices and requiring that any alcohol consumption had to be in plastic cups provided by on-premise licensees.  

 

But a clear understanding of how each license type is required to operate could help other cities avoid some of these problems.  

 

While states will sometimes have 30-40 different licenses, they are basically of two different types: on-premise where customers buy and drink at the licensed location and off-premise where customers buy alcohol and take it somewhere else to consume.  Each is specifically designed to control problems with alcohol.  

 

On premise:   This license is intended to allow customers to drink within a specifically designated area where servers can monitor the process of drinking.  In this way they can prevent sales to minors and stop sales when someone is intoxicated.  

 

The license will usually specify the areas where people can drink--usually referred to as the "premises". Sometimes the premises include a deck, sidewalk or garden area. Sometimes the parking lot will even be designated as part of the premises, particularly if there have been past problems.  

 

These spaces must regularly monitor and controlled by the licensee. The key is the watchfulness of the server and bartender. Regulators should be alert to situations where adequate monitoring is not possible. Low lighting is one. Large crowds with few servers is another.  

 

Sometimes special provisions are needed for unusual venues such an entertainment area. In the case of Las Vegas' entertainment area, each on-premise licensee paid a substantial monthly fee for security to monitor patron drinking and behavior. The fee also paid for cleanup and garbage collection.

 

Off-premise:  This license is designed for customers who purchase alcohol and then take it somewhere else for consumption. This usually means taking it home or to a party at someone else's residence. When customers buy alcohol-often in single serving sizes-and drink it immediately outside the store or in the immediate vicinity, the license is not being used as intended.  

 

The store does not have any capacity to monitor immediate consumption outside the premises nor do they have the training to do so. Again, in the case of Las Vegas, these off-premise licensees were not required to pay for security or for littering done by their patrons.

 

This problem is similar to experiences in large cities where chronic inebriates buy alcohol from stores for immediate consumption. Areas with large homeless populations can be quite costly for the public since local governments must pay for law enforcement and emergency services relating to this population.  

 

These costs can be very large. In a study of 529 individual homeless alcoholics, the city of San Diego determined that health care charges alone totaled $17.7 million and only 18% of that was reimbursed!

Areas with large concentrations of public inebriates require a comprehensive approach that should include a variety of strategies.  

 

An excellent resource is the guidebook, "Chronic Public Inebriation" by Matthew Pate, published by the Center for Problem-Oriented Policing. Go to www.popcenter.org for more information about this and other guides.

 

Some good examples of cities that have successfully dealt with chronic inebriate problems are San Diego and Green Bay, Wisconsin.

 

All of these cases demonstrate the need for active regulation.  When problems occur, it is critical to act quickly.  Attention by law enforcement and then warnings and other sanctions may be necessary.

 

Information about San Diego's comprehensive program to address the serial inebriate issue can be found at  mhsinc.org/serial-inebriate-program-sip-0  

 

For a description of Green Bay's approach to these issues, see "Excellence in Problem -Oriented Policing:  The 1999 Herman Goldstein Award winners," US Department of Justice,  popcenter.org/library/awards/goldstein/1999/1999.pdf
Being small can be an advantage. 

The small business has to focus and produce results quickly, whereas a large corporation can throw lots of money into marketing but may not be nearly as effective in terms of return on that effort.



Future Dates to Remember

2015 MMBA Boot Camp 

 

February 17 & 18
Breezy Point Resort

2015 MMBA Annual Conference

May 16 -19
Arrowwood Resort
Ask A Director

Gary Buysse
Rogers
763-428-0163

Cathy Pletta
Kasson
507-634-7618
  
Bill Ludwig
Paynesville
320-250-3325
  
Candice Woods
Hutchinson 
320-587-2762
  
John Jacobi
Isanti
763-444-5063

Michael Friesen
Hawley
218-483-4747

Lisa Kamrowski
Nevis 
218-652-3135

Steve Grausam
Edina
952-903-5732

Toni Buchite
50 Lakes
218-763-2035

Brenda Visnovec
Lakeville 
952-985-4901
 
Bridgitte Konrad
North Branch
651-674-8113
  
Shelly Dillon
Callaway
218-375-4691
  
Karissa Kurth
Buffalo Lake
320-833-2321
 
Paul Kaspszak
MMBA
763-572-0222
1-866-938-3925

 
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Sunday Sales: Convenience at What Cost?
The MMBA website now contains comprehensive information on Sunday Sales. 

It is a reference for members, legislators, media, city councils and the general public.

Click Here for the Website

 

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Build a Tower,
Build a Team
 
Tom Wujec presents some surprisingly deep research into the "marshmallow problem" - a simple team-building exercise that involves dry spaghetti, one yard of tape and a marshmallow.

 Who can build the tallest tower with these ingredients?

And why does a surprising group always beat the average?

 

 Click Here 

Ole & Sven Went Ice Fishing... 

Ole and Sven grabbed their poles and headed out to do some ice fishing.  

 

As they were augering a hole in the ice they heard a loud voice from above say, "There are no fish under the ice."

 

Ole an Sven moved about 25 feet over and started to make another hole.  

 

The voice said a little stronger, " There are no fish under the ice."

 

They both looked around and then looked up. Ole said in a humble voice, "Are you God?"

 

The voice spoke back, "No ya idiots! I'm the ice rink attendant."


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