How To Do Things Half Way in the Wine Industry

It doesn't take much...just inertia, cowardliness and greed.

Last week the National Association of Wine Retailers released the first-ever White Paper documenting the history, politics, benefits, legal foundation, and regulatory gold standard for retailer wine shipping: “Retailer Interstate Wine Shipping: A primer for Lawmakers, Regulators and Stakeholders”.

Here’s why it’s necessary and important.

Delaware remains one of the few states where consumers are forbidden by law from having wine shipped to them. That might or might not change this year when a new bill is introduced concerning wine shipping. What we know for sure is that no matter what happens, Delawareans will not be able to have French, Italian, Spanish, German, or any other imported wines, wine-of-the-month club wines, rare and collectible wines, or out-of-vintage domestic wines shipped to them.

The types of wines listed above amount to the vast majority of wines sold in the United States. If the Delaware direct shipping bill passes, all of these wines will remain off-limits to shipment into the state. Why?