Wholesale Madness

The Georgia Department of Revenue seized 280 bottles of high-priced wines from one of Atlanta's most exclusive restaurants. Tax officials say the restaurant didn't purchase the wine from a wholesale dealer. The restaurant's owner, Richard Lewis, says there's a reason for that: The wine belongs to some of its regular customers. It simply holds it for them to drink when they eat there. No dice, say the revenuers, that's still illegal. Lewis says he didn't know the law forbids restaurants from storing wine for customers. And Revenue Commissioner Bart Graham, a customer of Lewis's, says he didn't know that, either. So the department, instead of auctioning off the wine as it is legally entitled to do, will allow customers to reclaim the wine. But the restaurant still faces fines or other sanctions for breaking the law, and state officials say they'll crack down on other restaurants caught storing wine for customers.