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The Chairman is Dead, Long Live the Sommelier

New Hope for Pennsylvania Wine Buyers.

With the loss of Jon Newman as PLCB chairman, the future of wine buying in this state looked grim. Within months of the upheaval, the once-great "Chairman Selections" were a few dog-eared boxes of wine at the corner of a few stores. It looked like the state was giving up on us deal-loving wine drinkers.

Is this the end of Newman's beloved "Chairman Selections"? Yes, and no. In their stead, we are getting a "Sommelier Collection". This may be a case of dressing the same doll in a different dress. Here is a recent "Chairman Selection" that has magically (prematurely?) became a "Sommelier Collection" wine overnight.

This is great news for consumers thirsty for good deals. Sources inside the PLCB tell us that the state is trying to move out excess inventory, and that the new program would continue where the "Chairman Selection" program left off.

In fact, the PLCB is also going to expand the Chairman Selection/Sommelier Collection concept to hundreds of more stores. Currently, the great deals are only available in the bigger wine shops. A new program has also been unveiled this week, entitled "Power Purchase", will bring similar wine deals to many of the smaller stores in the state.

Internal documents at the PLCB show that the new "Power Purchase" program will feature "recognizable brand names to start in order build credibility" with pricing " at least 30% off retail" . The first "Power Purchase" wines may be from the Blackstone Winery, but that has not been confirmed.

Looks like great news for wine buyers!

Let me end with a short note to the PLCB managers and directors who read this newsletter every month: if you don't want a journalist quoting your internal documents, then you should not post them online as part of a powerpoint presentation, okay?