I am an economist, appearing on this panel as an individual at the request of FTC staff. I own a small vineyard in Napa Valley, California, have sold grapes to large and small wineries, and am familiar with the positions taken by many of the people in the wine industry regarding the opportunities and limitations surrounding direct sales of wine to consumers. My intention, however, is to speak here as an advocate for consumers rather than as an advocate for the wine business. My work as a professional economist concentrates primarily on consumer behavior, with applications in marketing, health, and the environment. I do not have a specialty in the economics of the wine industry. I am the E. Morris Cox Pro- fessor of Economics at the University of California, Berkeley, and have served as President of the Econometrics Society and as vice-president of the American Economics Associa- tion. In 2000, I won the Nobel Prize in Economics for my work on consumer choice behavior.