Saw on the news tonight. Evidently applies to wineries only and they have to pay the state to ship ($300 initial plus $150 per year thereafter plus taxes on the wine).
Not sure how many wineries would sign up for this extra paper work and cost. Also there is a limit of 12 cases per year. So perhaps not as big a deal once you dig into the details.
12 cases per customer. another nail into the coffin of prohibition. I’m sure the wine mafia (im looking at you martignetti) of massachusetts is quite upset, and id like to welcome my former bay staters to the 21st century in terms of wine sales.
Come on retail shipping!
From what I have read (see link to Boston Globe article) the current law requires each truck involved in the delivery of wine to have a permit - so unless they change the law every fedex or ups truck needs a permit (at a cost of $200 per permit) - very unlikely to happen.
FedEx has the individual permits already.
Awesome news - thanks Peter. I was reading this article and they refused comment about shipping wine into Massachusetts so I assumed they didn’t have the permits.
This is basically the law in Maine, as of only a few years ago. Even though Maine is a much smaller market, most of the west coast wineries I purchase from at one point obtained permits and ship to Maine. Unfortunately, a few have let their permits lapse (Peay and Rivers Marie). But current permit holders still include Ridge, Rhys, Williams Selyem, Merry Edwards, and Radio Coteau. The only wineries that I’ve been ordering from that have never had a permit ship to Maine (my new state as of a month ago) as far as I know are Bedrock, Ceritas, and Rochioli.
Given the size of the potential market, I expect that folks in Massachusetts will quickly have access to more wineries, including the ones that have lapsed in Maine. This is exciting news. Now you just need to lead the way on retailer shipping!
Well…there are/can be some work-arounds here. You can order the wine in somebody else’s name. Is that 12 cases per customer…or 12 cases per wnry??
Not that I’d ever encourage someone to scam the PeoplesRepublic of Massachusetts…nope…no siree…wouldn’t even suggest anyone being a scofflaw ![[snort.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/b/bdc3944606213c4dca6c1169cf0a166c8bc4f8c9.gif "snort.gif"){kind=small}
Tom
No progress at all. This law was actually already in place. We filled out the paperwork, which was absolutely unbelievable, (including copies of our lease and winery floor plan!) 2 years ago. It tool about 4 months to get everything complete. It became a game for us. We were granted the license. FedEx has stated that they will not license every truck.
[vimeo][/vimeo]
Greg – do 17/20’s get to play or is this an 02 only thing?
Per year/per customer, so unless you have a huge allocation it shouldn’t require any workarounds.
So…I gather you can have 1 cs/month from Siduri, 1 cs/month from Ridge, 1 cs/month from Failla, etc and be receiving on your doorstep 13cs in one month??
We are limited here in NM to 2 cs/month per licensee (Siduri/Ridge/Failla/etc). Sometimes, on a big shipment, I have to provide the wnry w/ several other names
they can ship to…but all at my same address. Works for me.
Tom
Not every truck is, apparently, licensed. Which is why each case has a special code for warehouse consolidation before delivery.
It’s dumb. I know. I live here…
That is what it appears to be . . . if it were otherwise, how is Siduri to know that you’ve already received 12 cases from Ridge and Failla?
I don’t know the history, but my guess is they chose 12 cases as somehow unlikely to rise to commercial quantities.
MA wouldn’t continue to be a nanny state without arbitrary limits guys, cmon.
For how many people is 12 cases of wine from a single winery annually likely to act as a cap on their purchases for personal use?
(Outside the one-off instance such as ordering wine for a wedding . . . )
This is Massachusetts. I am sure the laws will be convoluted and impossible to understand or follow. So we tend to ignore them being of the rebellious sons of liberty mind set. The majority of the state residents are unfortunately, lemmings.
Apparently another clause would restrict this to only American made wines. The provision specifically prohibits shipments of imported wines. One step forward, one step back…
Found the link
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20140711005748/en/Hidden-Loophole-Wine-Shipping-Bill-Bans-Consumer#.U8R9Fqgu1FR
The new wine shipping law inserted into the recently approved Massachusetts budget continues to endorse a ban on the shipment of hundreds thousands of wines into the state. This fact has gone unmentioned in coverage of the issue and in the bill itself, despite the American Wine Consumer Coalition, its members and other advocates alerting lawmakers to this loophole in the law in recent months.
They are not allowing retailer shipments. It’s a de facto ban of non-American wines, not a specific ban.
US wines only from producers.