Food and Drinq

When last heard from in January, Jonathan Newman quit his post as chairman of the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board after Gov. Rendell employed what Newman called a "heavy-handed, political" method to install former State Senator Joe Conti as the LCB's $150,000-a-year CEO.

Newman, 45, a lawyer credited with adding luster to the LCB with his well-thought-out Chairman's Selections and an overall push toward customer service in state stores, is back in the wine business.

With Newman Wine & Spirits, he's become, in effect, a wine broker. He told me that he and his associates will find great wines and cut a deal to buy the entire stock at a discount price. He'll offer this wine to his retail network -- selected stores in other states -- at great prices.

He said he would not deal with Pennsylvania's LCB after January 2008, when he legally could start a business relationship with his former employer. He said he's chosen not to deal with Pennsylvania.

He'll have exclusive retailers in New Jersey and Delaware. When he started the Chairmabn's Selection, he said, retailers in those states would be upset because Pennsylvania frequently offered those wines more cheaply, even after Pennsylvania's absurd taxes and 30-percent markup.

So if he's offering great wines at lower prices in bordering states, in effect, he'll be competing with the LCB.

Under his system, these stores will have a 25-mile zone of exclusivity on his own products. Among his partners are Kevin McClatchy (an owner of the Pittsburgh Pirates), Don Caldwell (of Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and Cross Atlantic Capital Partner), and wine writer W. Blake Gray.

The key to the business, Newman says, is "knowing who’s sitting with excess." He expects to make his first wine buys after the holidays.

The business will be based in suburban Philly, with an office in California.

Photo: Associated Press