NY Restaurants Buying From CA

Due to comments I’ve read here and else where, I’ve always been under the assumption that restaurants in NY (and in most other states), can only buy wine from distributors in their state, and not directly from wineries/retailers in another state. However I cannot find clarification on the law to back that up. Can anyone point me in the right direction? Thanks!

Mike,
Check with The Wine Institute.

Gracias!

let us know what you find

Yes you must have a distributor in NY and many other states. There are only about 3 states where you can sell directly to restaurants. Some states are really bizarre like Georgia where you have a brand lifetime link to your distributor. If they don’t sell your stuff the way you like you are out of luck. Bizarre state rules we have to deal with.

Georgia isn’t bizarre, it makes perfect sense from the standpoint of the wholesalers, who have had the General Assembly in their pockets for decades. The claim would be that they spend money building a brand in the state, and need protection from not having the opportunity to recoup that investment. But it is really just rent-seeking, and seems to be used as a sword much more often than as a shield. A winery can escape the franchise by pulling their products for 2 or 3 years, or getting a release, which is of little help to a winery whose distributor has done a piss-poor job with the brand.

Another law for the protection of wholesalers makes extending credit to retailers illegal, so by law retailers must pay cash on delivery. And don’t get me started on the direct-shipping laws . . . .

As a Georgia consumer, words can’t express the depth of my loathing for the legislative influence of some of the big distributors or their unholy alliances with neo-Prohibitionist religious and MADD-type forces. The wholesalers do a bang-up job of cloaking self-protection in hypocritical exclamations of how the three-tier monopoly saves us from the scourge of underage drinking.

it’s a bit of a gray area really. if the CA winery is super small, or have no distribution in NY then getting a case direct shipped will not be noticed - if they already have distribution in NY then there is no reason to direct buy (and they probably will not) – I have had a case here and there shipped when it was not avail in NY and I had a personal relationship with the winery – totally legal? maybe not, but it was such a small thing that I’m sure no one would care. – It would be ridiculous to stock a restaurant or store with tons of cases that way since shipping will kill you in the long run.

The work around is that you are allowed to purchase ‘private collections’ for resale, so for example even though SQN has a NY distributor if you can’t get/get enough wine for your store or restaurant you could purchase from someone on the list and resell.