Do you enjoy one-stop shopping? Do you love to pick up your groceries, Valium, cat litter, and a nice Cab Sauv all from the same place without the sheer slog of taking out your credit card a whole four times? Well, tough luck, because New York Governor Paterson has nixed his plan to sell wine at supermarkets. Why?

Well, The corks have yet to stop popping for those who opposed the plan — mainly drunk-driving awareness groups, the police, and small-business owners. Police feared an increase in underage drinking, since kids would have easier access to wine (uh, know any teens who crack open a bottle of Merlot on a Friday night?); and Mom and Pop wine stores claimed they would not be able to compete with the volume discounts offered at the supermarket.

However, supporters of the idea, such as Vote Wine 2009 (a coalition of supermarkets, wine growers, and the New York Farm Bureau) note that “Without this proposal, consumers will continue to pay higher prices and have less choice.”

Either way, if the budget passes, wine will go up 6 cents a bottle. And since we’ll still have to make a special trip to a wine store to buy our Chateau Trop Cher, it kinda seems like the consumer is the one who loses out in this war of the rosés.

Wine in Grocery Stores Proposal is Killed (Photo: Ninjapoodles)

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