(Forbes) - For many years public relations professional and head of the Specialty Wine Retailers Association, Tom Wark has blasted the Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of America(WSWA) for making large contributions to politicians in order to maintain its “monopoly” in the three tier distribution system.

Now, Shree Baba Pokharel of the College of Business and Economics, West Virginia University presents a study published by the American Association of Wine Economiststhat looked at political campaign contributions by the wine industry.

Wark’s contention concerning WSWA contributions notwithstanding, Pokharel says, “…to my knowledge, there are no studies on [the campaign contributions of] wine special interests.”