December 2018 — While California permits shipment of its wines to consumers, not every state is so liberal. Currently at-issue are laws in Illinois, Michigan, and Missouri that prohibit out-of-state wine retailers (off-sale licensees) from shipping to residents in these states.
In 2005, the Supreme Court exercising the Dormant Commerce Clause of the Constitution was successful in opening direct shipping from out-of-state wineries to consumers (Granholm v. Heald) opening the door to wineries and consumers in 42 states.
The U.S. has the Constitution’s Dormant Commerce Clause forbids interstate trade protectionism.
Unfortunately the 2005 ruling was narrow, applying only to wineries. Meanwhile, off-sale licensees (such as retailers) were not subject to the new ruling leaving them to their own devices.
Currently, Michigan is one of the few states that has laws effectively preventing in-state consumers to having access to approximately 90 percent of domestic wine.
Canada law is also being challenged in this same area. In both countries, the post-prohibition era left remnants of alcohol controls which conflicted with the anti-trade protectionism intent of the the originial constitutions.
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