I’ve done the vast majority of my buying directly from wineries since 2003, but I also liked to get from out-of-state retailers. Given the crummy developments with the litigation on this front, I’ve cut back even that buying. But I won’t give the business to the local wine cartels because their behavior is anti-competitive.
In any case, you can get a locker at an off-site place such as AWC or 55 degrees and see if a retailer will send your shipment there. I had a locker at AWC a couple years back, and it worked great. I recommend it. Anything to keep from paying this stupidly hostage prices.
I am buying from a small out of state retailer who has not received any cease and desist letters from Texas. Have not had a problem – other than the fact that FedEx likes to deliver only during the 10 minutes that day no one is at home.
I already do that…AWC has worked well to date, but they are even getting nervous about receiving wine from retailers. For now they’re still doing it, but I think it’s just a matter of time before they get their own cease and desist letter…AWC also has the disadvantage of the “double shipping charge” (and I believe AWC uses shipping as a profit center, charging pretty high rates both for their shippers and then for the actual shipping…not that they don’t have every right to charge what they can get).
I like Joe’s solution and had already contacted a wine shipping place in Shreveport, but Joe I’ll contact you about this. I love the idea of setting up an account that 6-10 of us (maybe more) could use, and all share the burden of picking up the wine and bringing it home every now and again. And I like the idea that there is not much the authorities could do to “shut down” this arrangement.
I use AWC for winery consolidation and also for occasional split shipments. I have not used AWC for retailer-sourced wines. As to the shipping-as-a-profit-center, I’m not sure. I do know that they use Haas for shipping, not FedX and UPS, and so the shipping is higher. It has been my understanding that the handling is different. Perhaps someone else can expand on this.
Please discuss the subject privately as it relates to specific entities i.e. retailers. The enforcement agency i.e. T A B C reads the various wine boards and acts on the information.
There are additional ways that shipping will happen. Unfortunately it will come as a cost that acts as an additional barrier.
I don’t doubt that TABC monitors the boards. In fact, I have personal knowledge that they do. But they cannot initiate enforcement actions that aren’t authorized under law. Before 2003, when all wine shipments to Texas (other than those initiated by the consumer at the winery itself) were illegal, TABC still could not crack down/intercept a consumer-to AWC-to consumer shipment because it was a legal transfer of title out of state.
Nevertheless, caution is definitely the order of the day. And so is writing your elected representatives. For a state that purports to be all for free-wheeling markets, we sure are protectionist.
I buy more from wineries. I rather pay them inflated prices than TX wholesalers. If this doesn’t get fixed, it will be 1 of the main reasons we pick-up and move out of state.
Side question: I had understood that old orders would be grandfathered by TABC (old orders being prior to, what was it, Sept. 08?). Last week an out-of-state retailer told me that they are not being allowed to ship anything including old futures orders from before the last ruling. In my case, the order was been placed in 07.
I don’t recall seeing anything in the law or the court orders that said prior orders would be grandfathered. One of those SOL situations that just plain stinks. Keep writing your legislators. And keep on boycotting local retailers.
It’s nothing in the law or court orders…it’s with the enforcement agency (TABC), which is perfectly able to address how and when they will enforce their rules. I was told by two retailers that they had contacted TABC and negotiated a case-by-case “permission” to ship out older, pending, pre-arrival orders that pre-dated the new law. I received one such order as recently as two months ago. The retailer had to first get an e-mail from TABC giving them the green light to ship…
Frankly, what makes the ruling so stupid is that it is almost unenforceable (is that a word?) as you are allowed to ship person to person and winery to residents. So unless they check every box that comes through and does research to see if they are a retail establishment - they will not catch it. However, the rub is that these retail places have to be willing to ship and forgo return addresses or not list their retail establishment names on them. Most have decided, it is not worth getting caught and I do no blame them. Though I do know for a fact, many are willing to take that risk. I have some friends who are long time customers of some major places (i.e. before the law was in effect) and they ship a fair amount. But when I called as a new customer - they would not take the risk.
I believe many out of state retailers are trying to get around these state regulations by declaring that title passes in the state where the retailer is. And that the buyer represents that it’s legal for the retailer to ship to on the buyer’s behalf. Or something to that effect.
My small retailer in Portland has never blinked. My original, slightly larger one in Portland did.
Uh, wrong Brad. It is illegal to ship wine from person to person in, out or within Texas. Box up some wine and take it down to a Fedex or UPS facility and say “I want to ship this wine to my buddy in Podunk” and see what happens.
![[head-bang.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/b/b1cd199e4b2b2988b5107c3c9598fd28dc92a776.gif "[head-bang.gif]"){kind=small}
![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers"){kind=small}