Metro

Booze giant fights wine bid

ALBANY — The big-money booze industry is secretly bankrolling the organized whining over Gov. Paterson’s plan to let grocery stores sell wine, The Post has learned.

An internal letter sent to liquor stores recently by the London-based liquor wholesaler Diageo reveals it has been quietly subsidizing The Last Store on Main Street, the self-proclaimed “mom and pop” coalition pushing to cork Paterson’s wine-in-groceries plan.

“Together with our lobbyists and government-relations team at Diageo, we have remained fully engaged in lobbying to fight the governor’s recent proposal,” reads the Jan. 28 letter.