A decision by the Supreme Court in “Byrd vs Tennessee” this past June has the potential to resurrect interstate shipping opportunities for wine stores across the country. The question is whether the support of the Court can be fully realized by stores wishing to ship across state lines, and how much resistance retailers can expect as they seek to expand their access to markets. Back in 2005 the Family Winemakers of California won a historic ruling at the Supreme Court that op

Publish in the June 2017 Beverage Media journal's "Talkin' Tech column Many of the laws that govern the retail tier were designed in the wake of prohibition with the goal of maintaining temperance. Over the past 80 years our attitudes towards alcohol have changed in ways that make these original concerns seem like an historical artifact. Today state action to block alcohol sales where they are illegal has become less important, as very few dry counties remain. Preventing sale

On Wednesday, May 17th BevSites hosted a webinar interview with Tom Wark, one of the foremost experts in all matters regarding the interstate shipping of wine. For those not familiar with Tom he leads a group called The National Association of Wine Retailers (NAWR) that advocates for wine retailers specifically when it comes interstate shipping legislation. If you missed the webinar, click here to listen to a recording. (Run-time is 55 minutes). Topics covered include * Where

Wine stores selling online have had relatively open access to consumers in the major US wine markets, which has been a welcome addition to their local business. While some laws have been in place that should limit these shipments, there has been lax enforcement at state agencies that are reluctant to take action beyond their jurisdictions. Retailers have been able to find sales in this grey area between the rules and enforcement. However this environment is changing as retail

The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Control (TABC) announced that it has been meeting with FedEx and UPS to identify strategies to block retailers who have been shipping illegally into the state. TABC claims to have sent warning to letters to retailers in September 2009, November 2010 and May 2011 that were making illegal shipments. They are now planning to enforce those warnings by having FedEx and UPS threaten to cancel service agreements and to notify the corresponding agency in

In a change of policy for MassPack, the state's retailers are trying to have the restrictions on their ability to "export" wine lifted so they can compete for sales in other markets. A bill was submitted to the new session of the state legislature sponsored by Rep. Torrisi (Dem. North Andover). It has yet to be assigned a bill number. MassPack has historically argued against interstate shipping by MA retailers as part of a strategy that was intended to defend against shipment

New Englanders will tell you: If you don't like the weather wait a few hours; it will change. This winter might be the exception to the rule (it's been relentlessly cold for months it seems) but the Massachusetts wine market bears similarities to the weather. Just when you think you've got it figured out it changes. Take for example sales tax on alcoholic beverages. In 2008 the legislature increased the tax rate from 5% to 6.25% and lifted the exemption on alcoholic beverages

There are two different campaigns being fought that concern the interstate shipping of wine. Wineries have been largely successful in convincing the courts that they deserve the right to ship direct to consumers and will operate in compliance with state laws, whether favorable or not. To date their campaign has yielded 37 states and DC with the prospect of gaining 3 new states (NJ, MD and NM) in the coming legislative year. On the other hand there is a campaign being waged by

ShipCompliant has released a fun tool that may help you manage shipping concerns over the heat of the summer. The tool shows forcasted temperatures across the country for the next 5 days and lets you set a temperature threshold above which you elect to hold shipments. There is also a file upload tool that will analyze the zip codes of your shipments against your temperature threshold. To use the tool you will need to surrender your contact information to Ship Compliant but

From Wine & Spirits Daily: "In a blow to Internet wine retailers, The Massachusetts Supreme Court ruled last week that Wine.com, the Internet wine merchant, cannot lay blame for shipping wine to an underage girl on their common carrier, FedEx. The court upheld a five day suspension of Wine.com's license in the state. A 19 year-old woman ordered wine from Wine.com, which was delivered to her home by FedEx without an ID check. Wine.com pays FedEx two dollars per package to ch