As is the case with most fights, this one is fueled by liquor.

But the wrestling and rustling is taking place at the State Capitol in Springfield, where beer distributors are pitted against winemakers over direct shipping and retail distribution rights of small wineries across the state - including the growing number of wineries that call Southern Illinois home.

Prompted by the Associated Beer Distributors of Illinois and sponsored by State Reps. Lou Lang and Jay Hoffman, as well as Republican State Sen. Timothy Schmitz, House Bill 4350 seeks to amend the Liquor Control Act of 1934 to limit the number of cases small wineries can ship to customers per year and stop the winemakers from directly selling their products to local retail stores. Instead, the bill asks that small wineries use distribution companies to keep state regulation procedures in place.

It is no surprise that winemakers in Southern Illinois are crying foul over the suggestions and have introduced counter-legislation seeking compromise with the beer distributors, mainly retention of vintners' rights to directly sell wine to customers and stores.

Ava resident Mike Boegler, a past president of the Illinois Grape Growers and Vintners Association's board of directors, said the bill is a threat to the continued growth of the burgeoning wine industry in the region.

The move, he contends, is solely for the purpose of giving distributors total control over the movement of liquor in the state.

"They don't want anyone to be able to ship wine to a customer or retailer except themselves," Boegler said. "They're the middlemen; they want all the business to go through them."

Beer distributors association executive vice president Bill Olson said he can roll with those kinds of punches.

"We know we're treading on a sensitive area here," Olson said. "We are not trying to destroy the wine industry."

Olson said post-Prohibition state law lumps beer, wine and spirits under the same category, alcoholic liquors. All products shipped under that category are subject to regulation by the Illinois Liquor Commission. Distributors are set up to be the accountable entity during the shipping process.

The main problem with distributors for small wineries isn't their status as middlemen, says George Majka, owner of Pomona Winery in Jackson County, it's their lack of interest in actually distributing the relatively small quantities of wine local vineyards produce.

Majka said he makes roughly 5,500 gallons of wine annually, which translates into 2,000 cases a year, 40 cases a week. Only 10 of those weekly cases go to local stores, he noted.

"If I could find a distributor that would carry my product and would be diligent about selling it, it might cost me several thousand dollars a year; but they provide a service," Majka said. "The problem is my volume is so small it would be difficult to get distributors to sell it."

Losing his ability to directly sell wine at retail means Majka loses 25 percent of his yearly profit. That is a major impact, he added, despite the fact he makes 75 percent of his money from sales on site at the vineyard. Meanwhile, distributors make very little, if any, profit from the small wineries.

Majka said he can only assume the distributors are concerned allowing exceptions for small wineries in Illinois would eventually mean applying the same rules for small wineries from other parts of the country wanting to ship products into Illinois. Majka said the small exceptions now could lead to an overall erosion of the distributors' systems in the future.

Yet the stopgap measure distributors seem to be pushing would hurt an industry that produces almost 500,000 gallons of wine and generates as much as $20 million a year, Majka said. Such facts lend to his hope that legislators will consider HB 4350 a bad idea.

"The logic is overwhelming for supporting the wine industry as much as possible," he said. "I think it would be extremely unfortunate to stifle (it) in any way, and I'm sure the Illinois legislature sees that logic."

Boegler, however, said no one should underestimate the political clout the distributors association carries in the state capitol.

"They have huge clout, and we have 60 wineries and a couple hundred grape growers around the state; it's going to be a huge battle," Boegler said.

The Illinois Campaign for Political Reform describes Associated Beer Distributors as a group with strong ties to state party leaders, like Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka, Senate President Emil Jones, and Senate Republican Leader Frank Watson. Between 1993 and 2004, ICPR reports the association gave $3.4 million to various campaigns split almost evenly between both political parties.

If the money matters don't add up, that's because Olson said the measure isn't about securing profits for distributors and it doesn't hurt tourist activity at local wineries, which he noted, was the main reason the state allowed winemakers to sell their products on site in the first place. Besides, Olson added, the bill doesn't completely forbid wineries from direct shipping.

"We do understand (wineries are) an important part of the economy in many parts of the state," he said. "Wineries can still sell on site and subsequently may ship to the same consumer up to two cases a year." Two cases were the limited imposed on interstate consumer liquor sales at the federal level.

Olson said the move also closes borders to direct wine sales from out of state, effectively leaving the easiest wine to get in Illinois.

"This will mean (wineries) will be able to attract people by making it the only way they can get the wine for the first time," Olson said. "It will also mean anybody wanting to get California wine has got to go out to California first."

Local winemakers, like Tim Waller, owner of Inheritance Valley Vineyard in Cobden, aren't so sure that grand plan will go off without a hitch, particularly since more customers are beginning to ask about wine shipments.

"I think people are just now starting to grab on to the fact Illinois wine is very good wine. It has its own distinct qualities you can't get anywhere else," Waller said.

Shipping sales are still a very small portion of his total profits - single-digit percentage in fact - but Waller contends as tourists from Chicago visit Southern Illinois and taste the wine, people are asking about getting it delivered to their doorsteps.

"I've shipped a number of cases up there, simply because people don't want to drive down here," Waller said.

He worries if the state limits Southern Illinois winemakers' abilities to get a product to customers afar, local flavors may become an unprofitable exclusive to the region.

"I think everybody is fairly much in unison," Waller said. "Shipping in the smaller winery industry is a crucial part of it."

caleb.hale@thesouthern.com

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