The Present

Luckily the wine world is in the process of changing. This started on May 16, 2005 when the US Supreme Court ruled, in Granholm .v. Heald, that free interstate wine trade takes precedence over the states rights to regulate alcohol sales. They found, in New York and Michigan, that wineries from other states no longer had to sell through the state-licensed wholesalers and that they could ship directly to consumers. This hopefully is a start - the ruling only affected wine being shipped from wineries to consumers and only in two states. However the effect has been much broader and since the ruling more states have addressed the issue at the state level and most of them have allowed wineries to ship to them.

It has also created a change in mindset as the law now is vaguer about what is legal. Individuals and wineries are initiating test cases to build case law as a roadmap. In the transition groups are taking different approaches. Some wineries and retailers have used this as a starting gun to start shipping broadly into markets where the law is gray. Others are waiting until the smoke clears, as the penalties can be severe if it is deemed that the law has been broken.

Winevestor Shipping

Although there are several websites which are advocates for wine lovers, it is very difficult to understand from them whether what YOU want to do is legal. This is because in most situations the laws are in a state of flux and NOBODY knows what is legal.

The May 2005 ruling only affected wineries shipping to consumers which only covers a small percentage of wine acquisition for a Winevestor. More important is whether a retailer can sell and ship to your state. There are fewer states that allow retailers to ship to them, and until recently there was less focus on the issue.

Winevestor Selling

If you are a consumer of wine, and not in the wine trade, it is illegal in ALL cases to sell wine to another person and then to ship it. However a lot of people do it, and some of the auction sites we’ve identified act as a clearing house between consumers.

Winevestor Buying from a California Winery

The only IGW produced in the US is in California. The best way to procure the wine is to sign up for the winery mailing list and be sent the wines on a yearly basis.