Boycott the PLCB!
Without question, Marnie Old is the most important sommelier in Philadelphia and all of Pennslyvania. She put Philly on the map, not just because of her incredible palate or her encyclopedic wine knowledge. She made Philly a wine city because She was not afraid to fight the Pennslvania Liquor Control Board.
The PLCB has always been a nasty organization that milks every penny from wine lovers. If it was only the obscene level of taxation, sommelier like Marnie would be fine with that. It only money, and they have plenty of that. I think that what really gets them is the level of ignorance and corruption in the organization.
From the foolish teller at your local store to the chairman PJ Stapleton, the PLCB is full of half-educated syncophants who should be working at a Home Depot, not with fine wines. great people like Marnie are tired of having to be driven to New Jersey to buy wine. It wastes their time, and its an ugly place.
The few times I saw Marnie shopping in a PLCB store, the experience has been dreadful. The staff don’t know the difference between a Bergerac and a Beaujolais, and are often barely literate. Only in a corrupt state-controlled monopoly could a wine store be staffed with such fools.
Its time we all stopped shopping at these stores until there are vast improvements. For Marnie and her friends, I am formally calling on a boycott of all PLCB wine stores until they bring meMarnie in as a fulltime consultant. They need her, and its her duty as this state’s best sommelier to offer them much-needed guidance.
