Questions Uncorked

Sep 29, 2008

Hi Raymond,

Thanks for stopping by the blog. Unfortunately, you have discovered one of the disturbing problems with the wine industry here in the US – our complicated and convoluted shipping laws. After Prohibition was repealed in the US, each state was given the right to set up their own laws regarding the movement of alcohol (particularly in regard to alcohol moving across state lines). An interesting system of distribution of alcohol was put into place for most states called the three-tier system, whereby alcohol has to move through a distributor (think middle-man) before it reaches the retailer and the consumer. Each state has its own laws on the books about alcohol distribution and whether or not it is permitted for alcohol to go directly from winery to consumer (bypassing the distributor). The idea of direct shipping has been a subject of much discussion in the wine industry and even the focus of a court case heard by the Supreme Court in 2005. While many states now do allow some direct shipping of wine from a winery to a consumer, there are some (such as your home state) that still do not permit it.

If you would like more information on the subject or would like to express your frustration with this to someone, I suggest checking out two websites for two (opposing) positions on the direct shipping issue: www.freethegrapes.org and www.wswa.org. Both sites have a lot of very interesting information on this very complicated issue and can be a valuable resource for those looking for answers about direct shipping of wine.