New Laws Hobble Local Wineries

Ship no wine across state lines.

If you do ship wine, or other alcoholic beverages directly to someone in a state with restrictions, you could be committing a felony.

For those who send regional spirits outside Washington or Idaho, the risks range from felony prosecution to a slap on the wrist for violating varying restrictions in one of 20 states.

“It’s so ridiculous and such a holdover from prohibition,” said Nancy Erickson, one of the owners of Vino, a downtown Spokane wine shop. “Why should somebody be punished for where they live?”

Residents of states such as Kentucky, Georgia and now Florida, where direct shipment of alcohol is punishable as a felony, are hurt most by the laws.

“We’re disappointed that the state of Florida had to go to these lengths to penalize the consumers who simply want to enjoy wine from Washington state,” said Steve Burns, executive director of the Washington Wine Commission.

With more and more states restricting alcohol shipments, anyone who wants to send even a single bottle of wine or beer is caught between a vat and a hard place.

“There’s no way around it,” said Erickson.

The only alternative for the beer and wine producers is to travel to each state where direct shipments are prohibited to hire distributors.

“They can’t do that just to send a case or two,” said Burns.

Though smaller businesses and wine and beer fans are affected by the legislation, odds are they probably won’t be prosecuted if caught violating the laws, wine experts say. Even so, local sellers of spirits are proceeding with caution.

“The states where they made it a felony, I won’t ship into anymore. Not even a gift bottle,” Erickson said.

While Washington wine shops like Vino may lose individual bottle sales because of the laws, local wineries are losing bulk sales of cases.

Joe Algeo, national sales manager for Arbor Crest Winery, recently lost a customer from San Antonio when he explained he couldn’t ship a case of her favorite vintage because of Texas law. She wasn’t the first sale he’s turned away.

“They get upset with us about it,” he said. “But at the risk of losing our liquor license and not being able to produce, we have to obey the laws.”

Many small wineries depend on revenues from retail sales at their tasting rooms. As more states prohibit direct shipping of alcohol, they lose out-of-town customers who come in to sample and then ask to ship a case home.

“It’s a shame to turn down a case sale, because that can be significant for a small winery like us,” said Steve Meyer, owner of the Pend Oreille winery in Sandpoint. He wants to increase the shipping portion of his wine sales, but is hobbled by other states’ laws. “We pay close attention to the rules,” he said.

Beer and wine enthusiasts in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and California at least have “reciprocity” laws that allow direct shipments between them.

That’s good for most area wineries who ship primarily within the Northwest.

“It’s a substantial part of our business,” said Crandall Kyle, of L’Ecole No. 41, a small premium winery in Lowden, Wash., near Walla Walla.

Most of his out-of-state customers are fairly serious connoisseurs. When they want wine, they find ways to get it, he said. “They might even ship it to someone in the next state.”

, DataTimes