There have been quite a few articles recently about a soon to be signed California law that allows any winery to ship to California and all California wineries to ship to other states that allow direct shipping to consumers. It’s California State Senator Wes Chesbro who authored the law and it is being hailed as a boon for California wineries and California consumers. Yet, in reality it is a complete and total dissing of California’s wine retailers who aren’t provided…

Thanks to Huge over at Huge Johnson’s World of Wine to alerting me to what is really a brilliant press release and brilliant bit of politics on the part of those fighting Michigan distributors to allow direct shipment of wine in their state. WineCam is the organization of wineries and consumers that formed to fight off a cynical and back room attempt to deny Michigan wineries the chance to ship direct to consumers and to prevent consumers from ordering any…

A federal judge ruled that Florida’s wine shipping law (allows Florida wineries to ship to Floridians, but not out of state wineries to ship to Floridians) was unconstitutional. This ruling was nearly a foregone conclusion given the Supreme Court struck down near identical laws in NY and MI earlier this year. Florida is important however for the simple reason that it is a HUGE wine market. State Senator Paula Dockery will re-introduce a bill she has been pushing for some…

The battled over the direct shipment of wine in Michigan has shifted, for the summer, from the Michigan legislature, to the public space where some very interesting comments and actions are being undertaken. The battle over who can ship to consumers in Michigan was begun after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Michigan’s discriminatory law that allowed Michigan wineries to ship to Michigan residents but forbid out of state wineries to do the same. In a bit of candor, the…

In an early post I wrote about a recent "sting" operation paid for by Michigan’s Wine & Spirit Wholesalers Association. They carried out the sting through their self funded Front Group, Coalition for a Safe and Responsible Michigan. In this sting, the wholesalers were able to find three Internet retailers who sold wine to a 20 year old. They touted their findings as proof that minors could get alcohol via the Internet. But now I discover that one of those…