Delaware's Unworkable Wine Shipping Law.

Thank goodness direct-to-consumer shipping didn' t begin in Delaware, because it would be dead. Steve Harrison, who runs Vinoshipper, went through the law. He details just how bad it is in his latest blog, Unlimited.

What the bill really is is a wholesaler protection bill

Here's a summary:

• You have to be a Delaware farm winery or an out-of-state the producer the Commissioner decides would qualify if it was located in Delaware. You have to grow your own fruit and ferment it on site. Negotiants, custom crush clients, urbanm wineries, all banned – as are farm wineries associated with an importer or retailer.
• You can ship three nine-liter cases per household per year – and you can't ship more than 1,800 cases into Delaware in a year. Go over the limit and the Commissioner cancels your license, "which is probably the idea. Except that doesn't work because no distributor will pick up a brand on the strength of 1,800 cases."
• You can't ship if a Delaware importer or wholesaler already represents you – or if you're a subsidiary of a supplier listed in the one importer/wholesaler's current price publication approved for price postings.
• The delivery driver has to scan and keep a copy of the recipioent's ID. Does a brick-and-mortar retailer have a similar requirement? Of course not.

The carriers have rejected this as too onerous. "So, Delaware has a law, a licensing system opening sometime this fall, and no lawful way to move a bottle."

One reason this is so bad is the legislators rejected every offer of advice from people who know how direct shipping works in the states where deliveries are made and taxes are collected.

The bill has an odor that would lead most journalists to say it is corrupt. Why? It was filed June 27, amended on June 30 and passed on he last night of the session.

The National Association of Wine Retailers objected, with Tom Wark calling it "one of the worst, most exclusionary and most anti-consumer" shipping bills in decades. Also objecting: Wine Institute, which offered amendments that were ignored, Free the Grapes, FedEx and UPS.