Letting winemakers breathe
Andrew Edwards
Newport Beach vintner Richard Moriarty is not yet able to ship cases
of his Back Bay Cuvee all across the country, despite last week’s
Supreme Court ruling against two states’ laws that prohibited him
from selling his product directly to customers.
Moriarty is waiting to see how other states react to the court’s
decision. Last Monday, the court issued a 5-4 ruling that Michigan
and New York laws banning direct sales from out-of-state wineries
illegally discriminated in favor of in-state producers, who were
allowed to make direct online sales to customers.
The court ruled states can ban direct wine sales, but must treat
in-state and out-of-state wineries equally. The case was sent back to
lower courts for future action.
Moriarty and other California vintners can make direct sales to
consumers in the 26 states that allow the practice, according to the
Wine Institute, a San Francisco-based group that lobbies for
California wineries.
Currently, most wine from Moriarty’s Newport Beach Vineyards &
Winery is sold within a 5-mile radius of his Back Bay vineyard. But
if other states’ laws become more favorable, he may send more bottles
further away.
“We probably will ship more,” Moriarty said. “New legislation
obviously gives us more opportunities.”
Like Moriarty, others are playing the waiting game.
“It’s really positive to begin with, as to how different states
are going to act remains to be seen,” said Albert Paul, vice
president of sales and marketing for Bianchi Vineyards. Bianchi
Vineyards is a Paso Robles winery with sales offices in Newport
Beach.
Lobbyists representing wineries view the court’s ruling as a tool
to pry open the legal barriers blocking California vintners from
making direct sales. The Supreme Court only considered Michigan and
New York laws. However, Steve Gross of the Wine Institute said he
thinks other states will be forced to reconsider laws governing wine
shipments.
“We can use this [ruling] for momentum,” Gross said.
A loosening of wine shipping laws could be a short-term problem
for retailers, said Dan Rhodes, a buyer for Hi-Time Wine Cellars in
Costa Mesa. If customers can buy a wider variety of wine without
having to visit stores, retailers like Hi-Time may receive smaller
shipments from suppliers.
In the long run, Rhodes said wine sellers are hoping complicated
rules that govern how they are allowed to do business from state to
state will be simplified.
“That’s going to be the next phase of this thing,” Rhodes said.
Wholesalers, on the other hand, will likely try to limit direct
sales, Paul said. On the day of the ruling, Wine & Spirits
Wholesalers of America -- a trade organization representing alcohol
wholesalers -- issued a release in support of a three-tiered system
that requires vintners to sell to wholesalers, who in turn provide
wine to retailers.
For now, Moriarty is looking forward to harvesting this year’s
harvest . Tiny clusters of green grapes are already growing along his
vineyard, and he credits the winter rains for what could be an
exceptional crop.
“This is just uncanny; this is months -- at least a month, ahead,”
Moriarty said as he examined a grape cluster.
* ANDREW EDWARDS covers business and the environment. He can be
reached at (714) 966-4624 or by e-mail at andrew.edwards
@latimes.com.
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