Alabama ABC Board Censoring Wine Labels

Apparently a wine label based on an 1895 bicycle advertisement is just too risqué for the delicate sensibilities of Alabama residents. Or so says the ABC Board, which has deemed it "immodest" and demanded that the wine bottles be removed from bars and grocery stores.

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Bob Martin, staff attorney with the Alabama Alcoholic Beverage Control Board, said the ABC's licensing bureau deemed the label inappropriate last year.

The French painter G. Massias produced this bicycle advertising poster in 1895. A wine with a label featuring the poster has been banned from sale in the state of Alabama because it features a person "posed in an immodest or sensuous manner."

"It was submitted twice last year, and it was rejected both times," Martin said. Early this month, however, a citizen sent a bottle of the wine to the ABC board to show it was still being sold in stores, he said. So, the board's enforcement bureau sent a letter to stores and restaurants statewide, reminding them that its sale was prohibited, Martin said.

Oh, good grief -- somebody tattled? When are we going to grow up in this state? It's already illegal to sell sex toys; now we're banning wine labels with what I'd venture to call tasteful depictions of nudity? All for the sake of the children, I guess. Hey, maybe we should ban field trips to art museums too. Or take away their mirrors when they reach puberty.

And just to add to the creepy:

Several restaurant owners, retailers and distributors declined comment when contacted Thursday by the Press-Register. Licenses to sell or serve alcoholic beverages are renewed yearly, with applications due by Aug. 1.

Gee, I wonder why they were afraid to declined to comment.