Report: Wine sales in supermarkets could benefit N.Y. and wineries

Wine sales in grocery stores would net the state about $22 million a year and would benefit both in-state and out-of-state wineries, according to a new analysis by Bradley J. Rickard, a Cornell University economics and management professor.

According to Rickard's research, the findings of which are in the December issue of Rural New York Minute, a publication of the Community and Rural Development Institute, other states and regions that introduced wine into supermarkets saw demand go up anywhere from 20 percent to 300 percent.

A series of economic simulations found that such a move in New York would benefit government revenues and out-of-state wineries, that in-state wineries likely would benefit, but that wine sales in liquor stores could go down by as much as 32 percent.

A proposal to allow wine sales in grocery stores died in Albany early this year, largely because of concerns about the impact on liquor stores.

But a similar bill is currently before state lawmakers, and the New York Farm Bureau recently endorsed the measure after hearing a Wegmans Food Markets executive vow that the company would promote New York wines if such sales were allowed.