Wine Shipping
One piece of news jumped out at me as I started to catch up on headlines and email: the Supreme Court has made a decision about inter-state wine shipping. Despite the many corks being popped across the country in celebration, I can't imagine too many people were surprised by the decision. The court simply declared that states can't have different shipping rules for in-state wineries and out-of-state wineries. This obvious obstacle to free trade across states has always been the weakest link in the intricate web of this country's wine shipping laws.
But if a state wants to ban all shipping to consumers, it can. It just has to make sure the ban applies to out-of-state and in-state wineries alike. I imagine that will be Plan B for the distributor lobby. They don't want direct-to-consumer sales because it cuts them (and their markups) out of the picture.
Still, I was glad to hear the Supremes made the decision, even though it was more or less what everyone expected it to be. It opens a big market for small producers. Anything more radical would have been a big surprise, but let's hope that eventually happens.
A plug for Free the Grapes: this is the main group fighting for the consumer in this issue. Check out their site to get up to speed on this complicated topic.
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