This Is How Wine Law Becomes Corrupted

How did the Uniform Law Commission come to adopt all the recommendations of booze wholesalers on how direct shipping of wine should be governed?

It’s interesting that an article in Wine Searcher by Blake Gray about the obscure Uniform Law Commission (ULC) has been getting a lot of attention. The reason Blake’s article has gotten so much attention is due to the fact that he correctly identifies a certain bit of work the ULC has done that is likely to make direct shipment of wine more difficult. But the story also indicates how alcohol law gets corrupted. Let me explain.

The Uniform Law Commission is an organization of attorneys across the country that work to make laws in different states more, well…uniform. They work to craft draft legislation that can be introduced in the different states. Since 2019 they have been working on draft legislation that, if adopted by the states, would make laws concerning the interstate shipment of wine more uniform. It was never a good idea.