Shipping Laws State-by-State in 2005

When it comes to buying wine, or any other alcoholic beverage, Americans may as well live in 50 different countries -- some relatively free and open, some so closed they resemble old-style dictatorships.

Each state has the right to control how alcohol is sold within -- and across -- its borders. Therein lies the problem. Instead of an orderly, unified system that allows wine commerce to flow freely among all the states, we have a tangle of laws more akin to the protectionist trade barriers and the "most favored nation" trading-status of global politics.

In the end, you, the consumer, are left to puzzle over why you can't send a holiday bottle of Chardonnay to your aunt in Florida or why you can't get your hands on that boutique Pinot Noir you enjoyed on your last visit to Sonoma. In fact, if you try to do so, you may be committing a crime.

Nearly half the states still make it illegal for anyone to send wine from out of state directly to a consumer's home. Wineries, retailers and even the package carriers are the ones that face penalties -- sometimes even felony charges -- for breaking Alcohol Beverage Control laws. For buyers, the worst that usually happens is that your wine shipment is seized and destroyed, though it is possible you could face fines under a state's criminal code.

Even if it is legal to ship wine for personal consumption to a certain state, there's no guarantee that any given winery will be willing to jump through the required regulatory hoops or that Federal Express or UPS will accept the shipment and the responsibility that comes with it. Not every package carrier ships wine to every state where it's legal to do so.

If you choose to ship wine yourself in an unmarked package, you risk having it discovered and confiscated by the package carrier: You'll lose your wine and your money, and have to live with the knowledge that that rare old Cabernet may have gone down the drain. And forget about simply sticking a bottle in the U.S. mail -- that's a federal crime.

It's tough to sort out all the intricacies of state laws on wine-shipping and home delivery. But we've organized the states into simple categories -- followed by a more detailed state-by-state summary of the relevant laws -- to help you figure out whether your state allows you to order wines via phone, fax, mail or Internet from out-of-state sources, bring back wine from a trip or send a friend a gift. These are intended as general guidelines, not legal recommendations.

For information on individual states, as laws may change and are subject to regulators' interpretations, check with your state liquor control agency, or visit www.wineinstitute.org/shipwine.

The types of state laws:

Reciprocal

Thirteen states -- including the major wine-producing states of California, Oregon and Washington -- have "reciprocal" shipping laws in place, meaning that consumers can have wine sent to their homes directly from wineries (though not necessarily from retailers) -- as long as the seller's home state allows out-of-state companies to ship wine to its residents. For example, if you live in Illinois, you can order directly from a California winery because both states allow reciprocal shipping, but you cannot order from a New York winery because New York state has no such law on the books. In addition, the buyer's home state generally waives its taxes; any sale is considered to take place in the seller's home state and is taxed there. Reciprocal laws are not green lights for unlimited shipping; some states place stricter limits than others on how many cases you can have delivered or on what types of orders are allowed. All the states require safeguards against wine getting into the hands of minors: The packages must be labeled as containing alcohol, and the carrier must check identification to be sure an adult is accepting delivery.

Limited

Fourteen states and the District of Columbia allow you to bring in out-of-state wine under certain conditions, typically requiring the seller to register with the state or pay for a special shipping permit. These states also generally restrict the amount of wine that a resident can bring in annually and require the winery or consumer to pay taxes and report the transactions. Some of these states actually give you more freedom than some reciprocal states do, while some allow only shipments of wine bought on a winery's premises and personal transportation of purchases. Yet other states place such substantial requirements on the sellers, buyers or shipping companies that it's impractical for most to ship there. As in reciprocal states, packages must be labeled as alcohol and signed for by an adult.

Prohibited

Twenty-three states ban out-of-state producers from shipping wine directly to consumers' homes. Six of these states -- Florida, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Tennessee and Utah -- actually make it a felony for either wineries or retailers to ship in violation of the law. If you live in any of those places, tough luck. Wineries won't risk shipping to you, because if they are convicted of a felony, they can lose their federal permit to make wine. However, the situation isn't equally bad everywhere. If you've visited an out-of-state winery, some of these states allow you to ship the wine back to yourself or to carry home a couple bottles in your suitcase or car. A few states have created "special-order" systems to allow you to buy wines that aren't distributed in the state. After the order is placed, the wine must be sent through a wholesaler to a retailer for pickup, where you will be charged state taxes and additional handling fees. However, winery trade groups and many consumers charge that the extra costs and restrictions of going through the three-tier system make special orders unpalatable at best, and unworkable at worst.

Federal On-Site

Intrastate shipping permitted