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Direct wine shipments to consumers are not totally green lights yet.

While direct-to-consumer shipping has vastly improved since the Supreme Court ruling, not every state has given the green light and others have imposed various restrictions that ultimately prevent direct shipments.

America (Country Appellation)

Direct-to-Consumer Shipping -- Not Quite the Green Light for Every State

This week marks the second anniversary of the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling. Eleanor & Ray Heald assess the changes made since Granholm v. Heald.

by Eleanor & Ray Heald
May 14, 2007

On May 16, 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court in Granholm v. Heald struck down state laws in Michigan and New York that prevented or made it difficult for out-of-state wineries to sell and ship directly to consumers. Small U.S. wineries which comprise the majority of the approximately 4,400 bonded wineries and are found in each of the 50 states reaped benefit of this decision. Yet, the question begs, how much benefit in two years?

Grape growing and winemaking have rapidly become attractive business models for family farmers. Today, grapes are the sixth largest crop in the U.S. and, according to latest government statistics, U.S. wine consumers drank 300 million cases of wine in 2006.

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