As I've posted before,the Supreme Court's recent decision to legalize direct wine shipping to customers is going to have a major positive impact on everyday consumers. Thought it might take a while to really kick in, but Winemonger seems to be taking all the right steps, especially in the delicious but decidedly under-represented sector of Austrian wines. You can check out their press release here -- but don't miss the heartwarming anecdote (even if apocryphal) on their site:
In fact, our story began when one of our founders, an Austrian living in California, had ventured out to get his hands on bottles of wine from the climes of home. What he found, when he found some at all, was an extremely limited selection with some heavily inflated prices. We quickly found out why: the wines had been imported to the East coast, sold to a distributor, who then sold them to a wholesaler on the West coast, who then sold them to a retailer (who then tried to sell them to our Austrian.) By the time the wine landed on the shelf it had not only increased its price tenfold, it had also decreased in value due to improper handling and storage.
Bravo to them and all other wineries and importers who finally have the shackles off and can compete on a level playing field!
