AMERICAN CANYON – Three wine logistics companies serving hundreds of wineries in the North Coast and Pacific Northwest have found badly needed room to expand in the tight southern Napa Valley wine warehousing market with a newly completed 411,000-square-foot facility.
All three currently occupy spaces in the cluster of expansive warehouses and distribution centers along Green [...]

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Amazon.com (AMZN.O), the largest global online retailer, plans to start selling U.S.-produced wine on its website within the United States by early October, wine industry insiders said on Wednesday.
Napa Valley Vintners, a nonprofit group representing 315 vintners in the famous California wine-producing region, has already begun to set up workshops for [...]

PHILADELPHIA — Wine enthusiasts are fighting the latest attempt to limit the direct shipment of wine to Pennsylvania consumers.
A pending bill would require wineries to ship consumer purchases to the state Liquor Control Board, which would then send the wine to the consumer for a fee.
Supporters believe direct wine shipments could deprive the state of [...]

Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue signed legislation Tuesday to allow Sunday beer sales at Gwinnett County’s new baseball stadium and to let Georgians buy wine over the Internet.
Perdue, who has helped kill legislation allowing Sunday package store sales of alcohol, also signed a measure letting limo companies sell alcohol.
Perdue signed the liquor bills, along with dozens [...]

ATLANTA –
Georgians would be able to go online and purchase up to 12 cases of wine a year directly from wineries, under a bill that’s now headed to Governor Sonny Perdue.The bill passed in the state Senate 40-6 on Monday. It’s already passed in the House.
Perdue doesn’t drink and is opposed to repealing the state’s [...]

Consumer demand drives U.S. direct wine sales to record levels as more wineries than ever compete in a crowded market.
Windsor, CA (PRWEB) March 28, 2008 - U.S. consumer direct wine sales reached record levels in 2007, according to the latest research results published today by wine marketing advisors, VinterActive LLC.
Based on their annual VinQuestâ„¢ survey [...]

ATLANTA - For wine connoisseurs, Georgia’s laws are a death sentence for out-of-state wine club memberships.
Georgia’s smaller wineries seeking an easy way to get their vintages to customers in and out of the state find themselves in the same bottle.
Two bills look to cork regulations that halt direct wine shipments at the state border and [...]

NAPA, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Senate Bill 616 will be heard by Maryland’s Senate Education, Health and Environmental Affairs committee on Friday, March 7, at 1:00 p.m. If passed, the Senate bill and its companion, HB1260, would [...]

AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) -For the fourth time in as many years, Maine lawmakers will take up the question of whether to allow consumers to have wine shipped to their homes.
The measure is being spearheaded by Sen. Lynn Bromley of South Portland, who believes it’s time that Maine joined more than 30 other states that allow [...]

On February 19, 2008, Costco Wholesale filed a petition for rehearing in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, asking the original panel to reconsider a three-judge panel’s decision of January 29th, which upheld the ruling of a federal district court in Seattle that Washington’s price posting requirement is invalid under federal antitrust law, but reinstated [...]

Denying out-of-state retailers called unconstitutional
What’s good for the wine maker is good for the wine merchant.That’s what a Texas judge ruled Tuesday in a closely watched case that could have wide-ranging implications for wine retailers and consumers across the nation.
U.S. District Court Judge Sidney Fitzwater found that state laws allowing Texas retailers to ship wine [...]

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Oklahoma wine could be shipped directly to customers under legislation being proposed by a state lawmaker. Don Armes says his proposal would give the state’s fledgling wineries a much-needed boost.
Current Oklahoma law prohibits wineries from shipping wine either within the state or out of the state without going through a wholesaler.
State [...]

Safeway plans to delve into Internet sales of wine directly to consumers. The Pleasanton-based grocery chain applied for a conditional use permit from American Canyon to open a tiny office alongside New Vine Logistics’ 130,000-square-foot pick-and-pack facility at 125 Mezzetta Court.
The commission unanimously approved the permit on Sept. 27, conditioned on Safeway’s obtaining a state [...]

The issue of direct shipments by retailers to consumers has become a very hot topic of late. As of today, retailers can ship to less than half of the number of states to which producing wineries can ship. The Specialty Wine Retailers Association is fighting hard with both legislative efforts and litigation to open more [...]