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To: Mark Fowler who wrote (46652)	3/21/1999 1:50:00 PM
From: Glenn D. Rudolph	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 164684

Online Wine: We Don't Need a Middleman There is more to consider in ''Cyber-grapes of wrath'' (UpFront, Mar. 8). Opponents of direct shipment following Internet sales claim that forcing these sales through the conventional three-tier system ''...would cut down on underage drinking and boost retail sales.'' The latter may be true, but customers and wineries see no need to pay markups to retailers and wholesalers who did nothing to create the sale. As for the underage-access issue, the current system isn't much of a model of protection. A study by the Health & Human Services Dept. determined that more than half of those aged 18 to 20 drink alcohol every month. It's hard to believe that minors purchase a great deal of wine, beer, or spirits by the relatively expensive and slow path of direct shipment, which leaves a clear trail of credit-card transactions, when they have ready access at the corner store. In California and New York, where direct shipment to the home has long been legal, virtually no complaints of illegal deliveries have been made. Yes, artificially created ''stings'' can show that minors can obtain licensed beverages directly, but it doesn't happen under normal circumstances. Finally, the claims of tax losses advanced by direct-shipment opponents are misleading. Virtually all of these sales are fully legal within the 30 states that permit intrastate shipment and the 14 states that permit limited quantities of wine to be shipped to their citizens. Simon Siegl President American Vintners Assn. Washington