Florida Legislators Defy Two Years of Successful Wine Shipping, Introduce Bills to Ban Winery Direct Shipments
Free the Grapes: Don’t Cap My Wine!
NAPA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Florida legislators have introduced bills that promise to ban winery-to-consumer shipments, eliminating a consumer privilege that has been enjoyed by Floridians since March 2006, according to Free the Grapes!, the national consumer and winery grassroots coalition (www.freethegrapes.org).
The bills include House Bill 1293 (Garcia), House Bill 693 (Bogdanoff), Senate Bill 1096 (Margolils), and Senate Bill 1736 (Geller).
Florida wine consumers and U.S. wineries are opposing the bills because they all include “caps” which would ban winery-to-consumer shipments from any medium-sized or large winery producing more than 250,000 gallons. For the past two years, wine wholesaler middlemen in Florida have strongly supported similar legislation, and without success. Massachusetts passed a law imposing a similar, arbitrary cap but it is being challenged in court because it discriminates against wineries based purely on how much wine they craft. A summary judgment is expected this spring.
Free the Grapes! is encouraging consumers to visit www.freethegrapes.org and personalize a message to state legislators supporting no change to the existing law, or the introduction of the model direct shipping permit bill. The model bill has been implemented in a majority of states, allowing wineries to purchase a permit, pay taxes, mark boxes, and consent to the jurisdiction of the state, among other provisions. The model bill is supported by the Federal Trade Commission and was cited by the U.S. Supreme Court.
“Each of these protectionist, special interest bills hurts consumer choice in wine. Why change the current law? Consumers are happy, wineries are paying taxes, and the sky is not falling,” added Benson.
There are now more than 5,000 wineries in the United States, at least one in each state. But it is estimated that less than 17% of wineries have national distribution, based on a 2003 survey by Wine Institute. And because it is logistically impossible for wholesalers and retailers to stock and sell more than 15,000 new wines introduced each vintage, Florida’s legislators and special interests are deciding which wines Floridians can and cannot purchase.
“These bills aim to cut off Florida’s wine lovers from their favorite wineries,” Benson concluded.
Since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on direct shipping in May 2005, winery-to-consumer shipping has become legal in 35 states, including Florida. The legal states collectively represent 81% of wine consumption in the U.S., and Florida is the second largest state for wine enjoyment (source: Adams Wine Handbook 2007). If one of these bills passes into law, Florida would be the largest state ever to rescind its winery-to-consumer shipping privilege.
As background, an August 2005 U.S. District Court order ruled Florida’s direct shipping ban unconstitutional. It was followed by a determination by the Department of Business & Professional Regulation that allowed Florida consumers to begin ordering wine directly from out-of-state wineries in March 2006. At the time, Florida was the largest U.S. state that did not allow legal, regulated winery-to-consumer shipping. Within a year, the number of wineries filing shipping reports and paying the required excise taxes rose from 0 to more than 500, according to DBPR records. From July 2006 through January 2007, out-of-state wineries shipped approximately 30,000 cases and paid more than $157,000 in excise taxes.
