As many wine law enthusiasts know, the issue of direct shipment is a significant legal issue for wineries selling in the U.S. The legal atmosphere within the states is continually changing with new regulations, so it is important for wine industry professionals to stay up-to-date on direct shipping. This October,…
Category: Wine and Direct Shipment
Revisited: Granholm v. Heald and the Wine Industry
This blog entry was originally posted on August 7, 2010, five years after the Supreme Court decided a major case impacting the wine industry. The decision Granholm v. Heald remains important to the wine industry and provides great context for the types of legal issues the American wine industry faces on a…
Wine Law Wrap-Up for the Week of March 18, 2013
Some very exciting wine law news emerged this week, including two stories that top the headlines of many leading publications. In the state of Massachusetts comes a story about direct shipment and a public figure. On the opposite end of the legal spectrum, we have a pending lawsuit brought by…
Criminal Law, Constitutional Law, and Litigation in the Context of Wine and the Law
The last week presented three very different stories in the context of wine the law, ranging from criminal law to constitutional law issues. The most pertinent are summarized below. On the wine law docket for the week of January 14, 2013: Chateaux Commence Legal Action Against St. Emilion Classification: This…
Costco Wholesale Corp v. Hoen and Federal Antitrust Law
The SCOTUS Granholm decision of 2005 is far-reaching with respect to subsequent issues entailing the three-tier distribution system. Many states allowed wineries to self-distribute their wines directly to retailers and bypass the wholesaler intermediary. This was the issue in Costco Wholesale Corp. v. Hoen, a case decided by the United…
Three-Tier Distribution, Direct Shipment, and Wine Politics in the New York Times
On Sunday, The New York Times published an excellent op-ed article tracing the history of the regulation of wine in the states and discussing the major contemporary problem relating to three-tier distribution in America. The article, which is brilliantly written by David White of Terroirist blog, is accessible at Wholesale…
Direct Shipment of Wine Could Soon be Allowed in Maryland
Note: There were several corrections made to this entry post-publication. The author would like to specifically point out that direct shipment is not yet allowed in Maryland, but it appears that direct shipment will soon be available in Maryland in the upcoming months. We apologize for any confusion the original…
H.R. 5034 is Now H.R. 1161
The bill many wine lovers feared last year, H.R. 5034 or the Comprehensive Alcohol Regulatory Effectiveness Act (CARE), is now known as H.R. 1161, the Community Alcohol Regulatory Effectiveness Act of 2011. The text of the 2011 Act is identical to the second version of H.R. 5034 introduced to the…
Breaking News: SCOTUS Decides Not to Hear Wine Retailers Case
BREAKING NEWS! Today, the Supreme Court decided not to examine the case brought by a group of wine retailers asking to review the case of Wine Country Gift Baskets v. Steen decided by the Fifth Circuit. The justices announced today that they will not give further consideration to whether the Texas…
Maryland Border States Create Indirect Smuggling Routes for Direct Shipment of Wine
Today, The Washington Post published an interesting article regarding the state of Maryland, its surrounding constituents, and direct shipment laws. Maryland is presently a state that does not allow direct shipment of wine to consumers; therefore, to obtain wine, a customer must purchase it from a store or other retail…