Bill lets travelers ship wine home

The measure, now on the president's desk, would override laws in states such as Florida.

©Associated Press
October 27, 2002

WASHINGTON -- Wine country tourists who find the perfect pinot gris or classic cabernet might soon be able to ship bottles home without having to lug them through airports.

Congress has sent the White House a bill that, at the urging of West Coast lawmakers, overrides the laws of several states to permit the shipments by vineyard visitors -- as long as the wine is for personal use and their home state allows residents to carry in wine purchases from another state.

President Bush is expected to sign the bill, which West Coast wineries hail as a major victory. Vineyards in three states -- California, Washington and Oregon -- control more than 95 percent of the U.S. wine market and long have sought to ease restrictions on direct shipments of wine.

"Every day in Washington wine country, people have to turn down sales to wine tourists," said Steve Burns, executive director of the Washington state Wine Commission. "From Woodinville to Walla Walla, tourists who want to buy a bottle of wine find it's illegal for them to ship the wine home. In these days of 9/11 security it's ridiculous to carry wine home on a plane."

Opposing the measure were liquor wholesalers that benefit from the current three-tier system of wine distribution that makes producers and retailers dependent on the wholesalers.

"First of all, the language in the bill is wide enough to drive a truck through, and it would override state law," said Craig Wolf, general counsel for the Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of America.

Direct shipments of wine are outlawed in more than half the states, including 11 states that forbid residents from carrying wine home with them on out-of-state trips.

But the legislation would open the opportunity for residents of 17 states to ship wines home when they visit vineyards. Those states are Florida, Connecticut, Delaware, Indiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont and Virginia.

To qualify, wine bottles or cases must be bought at the winery and buyers must be of legal drinking age. The wine must be for personal use and an adult's signature is required upon delivery.

Robert Koch, senior vice president of the San Francisco-based Wine Institute, a trade group for more than 600 California wineries, said the bill will particularly benefit small vineyards that depend on tourist sales.

Linda Baker, office manager of Chatom Vineyards, a family-owned winery near Murphys, Calif., said she loses sales almost every day because visitors cannot ship purchases home. "This will be a major, major help," she said.

Of equal significance, Koch said, is that the measure puts Congress on the record as supporting direct shipments from wineries to retail consumers -- at least in small amounts. Opponents call the move the first step toward striking down state control of alcohol sales.

"In the end, there's no way to track" wine that is shipped from vineyards, said Wolf of the wholesalers group. "There's no way for states to find out who is doing what unless it goes through their systems."

Some winery officials acknowledge that opening a new marketing avenue to consumers will test their diplomatic skills.

"As a large wine company, we depend on our relationships with distributors to sell wine in all 50 states," said Keith Love, vice president of Stimson Lane Vineyards and Estates, which owns several wineries in Washington state. "However, we certainly support reasonable efforts to allow consumers to ship wine to themselves after visiting wineries."

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