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W i n e s & V i n e s J U n e 2 0 1 4 75 WineEast H ow easy is it to change wine laws in the East? Much easier than it used to be in some states, and as difficult as ever in others. A look at a few of the wine laws that were passed or considered by leg- islative bodies this March shows that some states are now more receptive to changing the law to benefit their wine industries. With the passage of time, direct shipping issues have been resolved to the point where only nine states completely prohibit the direct shipment of wine to consumers. Two of the remaining states—South Dakota and Rhode Island—had such legislation on their agendas this legislative session. A bill in South Dakota that would have allowed a licensed winery to ship up to 12 cases per year to an individual consumer passed the state Senate in mid-February and was sent to the House, where it faced a tight deadline. the House session ended March 13, and any bill had to be passed by March 11 to be enacted this year. Even though the governor had said he would sign the bill, it did not get through the House in time. In Rhode Island, a bill that would have permit- ted wineries and wine retailers to ship up to 24 cases of wine annually to any resident over age 21 continued to meet strong op- position and failed to get anywhere. A law was passed in New York state to allow roadside farm markets to buy and sell wines sourced up to 20 miles from the market. Under the leadership of Jim Tre zise, the New York Wine & Grape Foun- dation has argued for many bills that have freed up farm wineries sufficiently that new bills with less impact are less likely to be questioned. On the grounds that a St. Lawrence County Wine Trail would attract tourists, boost local business and create jobs, the state Senate included a measure in its budget to establish the trail. Change in Tennessee Located in the heart of the Bible Belt, Tennessee has a long history of failure to get favorable legislation passed for the benefit of the state's wineries. When asked by Wines & Vines how the recently passed wine in grocery stores bill became law, Fay Wheeler of Stonehaus Winery in Crossville, Tenn., replied: "It's been on the table for a long time, with a lot of lobbying going on, and with the liquor interests and retailers generally opposed to it. But we're living in an age where wine is being sold virtually everywhere, and the majority of the people were in favor of having wine sold in grocery stores. The voters leaned on the legislators and told them, 'Get real: Listen to the people.'" Ed Cooke, a partner in Beachaven Vineyards and Winery in Clarksville, Tenn., told Wines & Vines that it was great to have the wine in grocery stores bill passed. He added that one of the restrictions delaying the bill's starting date to 2016 would probably be eliminated as a result of new legislation that has a good chance of being passed quickly. Less than a week after Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam signed the bill, voters began to pressure legisla- tors to allow wine purchases in grocery stores now—not in a year and a half. Other bills that would benefit Tennessee wineries also have been making their way through the legislature with less controversy than the grocery store bill. One of them would permit wineries without a distributor to sell up to 3,000 cases of wine directly to hotels and restaurants. While this would allow some flexibility within the entrenched three-tier system, Fay Wheeler is convinced that sales by wineries to retailers will not happen in his lifetime. Pennsylvania's battle for privatization Pennsylvania's long-running battle with the privatization of the state store system shows no sign of resolution in the near future. On March 4, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett, who favors privatization, held a news confer- ence in which he said that a lot of discus- sion about privatization was going on behind the scenes. He released no details, but in an election year with some legislators talking about ways to modify the state store system to raise more sales—and profits to the Changing Wine Laws in the East By Hudson Cattell Tennessee state Rep. Jon Lundberg and Sen. Bill Ketron announce their support of a bill to let state residents vote on whether to allow the sale of wine in retail food stores. Opinion