Recently in New York State, the 2^nd Circuit Court of  Appeals decided to uphold a statute that prevents out of state retailers from shipping wine directly to consumers in New York State. This is interesting because according to the Supreme Court a few years ago, wineries in-state and out-of -state must be treated equally in terms of shipping. Thus if a state allows its in-state wineries to ship wine to its residents, then out-of-state wineries should be allowed the same opportunity.

Some interesting arguments were made to uphold the decision. Since I am not an attorney, I don’t know if this will ever reach the Supreme Court but it does make me wonder if the United States Supreme Court would agree with New York’s 2^nd Court of Appeals. An interesting article is available on law.com.

Do you think out-of-state retailers should be allowed to ship wine into other states? If wineries can ship into a state why can’t retailers? Does it protect consumers or does it provide more taxes for the state?

Cheers! Kathy