Mormons, Merlot & The Utah Liquor Monopoly: Selling Wine in Zion

Description

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be a wine broker?
Now, how about a wine broker in the land of archaic liquor laws and an overbearing religion that shuns alcohol, like UTAH?
A job selling wine, a product many consider a hobby or a curiosity, can be one of the most stimulating, rewarding, and intriguing careers in the world. Jobs in the wine industry are highly sought because, at the core level, one is decently compensated for, in its most straightforward description - drinking.
However, if the job entails selling wine in Utah, that makes the job somewhat harder and often ludicrous. As a control state, the local government is tasked with buying and selling all alcoholic beverages over 5% alcohol by volume. Because the state operates a monopoly without competition, they have implemented and erected barriers by limiting products they only want to sell at prices dictated by expensive set state taxes. As if selling alcohol in a monopoly isn't hard enough, the state legislature is predominantly comprised of lawmakers belonging to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Since Mormons disdain alcohol, they control it in a way that only makes sense to them. While there are stories about selling wine, winemakers, liquor laws, and Utah politics, certain content illustrates the LDS religion's connection to controlling alcohol while violating separation of church and state principles of the United States of America.