In Vino Veritas - Part II




Well folks, it was as I suspected. From what my quick bit of research shows me, any wine retailer who genuinely wants to make wine available to consumers in Massachusetts should be able to. The new law does not prohibit the direct shipment of wine into Massachusetts, as long as the requirements are met. This law authorizes the direct shipment of wine. There is a an application process that must be completed in order to receive either a large or small winery shipment license from the Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission (ABCC). There also appears to be a delivery limit of 240 liters of wine per household per year.

I have not read all the related statutes and regulations, because that would be insane for blog purposes, so I called the ABCC just to confirm my interpretation. I spoke with Ms. Bobb, who handles the licenses to suppliers shipping into the Commonwealth. She stated that yes, wine can be legally shipped into Massachusetts directly to consumers as long as the supplier has the proper license.

So from what I understand, all you out of state wineries, if you want to ship here, you can. But you have to go through the same license requirements as our in state wineries. Hopefully, you will all consult with your legal counsel and start the process. Unfortunately, it seems as though many wineries don't want to go to the trouble. So for now, I will enjoy the wonderful wines that are available here or I will have to travel to you and imbibe on the premises. Both sound pretty good to me.

I hope that I got all of my information right here. If anyone knows otherwise, please let me know.

Comments

wheresmymind said…
What about wines from another country? I so hate the additives they put into wine here...but French wine...mmmm!
Lisa Johnson said…
wheresmymind - I'm not sure. I guess it could be the same, but I imagine there are more issues involved because of various tariffs and treaties. Say for example, you probably couldn't direct ship in from Cuba. And yes there is wine from Cuba, which I recently learned.

http://drvino.blogspot.com/2006/08/lavinia-french-for-wine-convenience.html#comments
FreeBeing said…
The best thing about being a little dumb about wines (like me) is that pretty much anything sweet in a pretty bottle works for me!

Seriously, tho, I had never heard of such a thing as this Granholm decision. Very good (and informative) post, Anali
Dezel Quillen said…
Hello Anali,

Digging deep and found the answer, but it does not look like a great compromise for the shipper?
I guess it will have t be big shipments for that plan to work successfully for both parties.

On a lighter note nice photographic work once again, look nice

Also curious and would like to ask your reader about the additives in the local wines. Are you referring to sulphites and sulphur dioxide or something different?

Happy Sipping!

Dezel
starry said…
I am sure all the out of state wineries are happy that they can ship wine into the state.
Lisa Johnson said…
free - I'm just starting to learn about wine and I still fall for something sweet in a pretty bottle too! Glad the post was helpful.

dezel - Robert Mondavi is pretty big, so I was surprised that they didn't direct ship. Then again their wines are already supplied in our stores, so I guess they don't feel the need.

Want to try an experiment? When you go to your next wine tasting, would you ask them if they ship to Massachusetts? I'd be curious to know their response. Glad you like the picture. It's kind of fun setting up these shots.

Unfortunately, my palate is not sophisticated enough to detect the additives found in American wines. Or in other words... I can't tell the difference!!! LOL

wheresmymind - Can you help us out here? : )

starry nights - I'm not sure they all understand they can or they just choose not to. I'm still a bit confused as to their perception.

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