Be still my heart…direct wine shipments to PA?

This just published in the Wine Spectator over the weekend. Oh, could it be? Pennsylvanians could go to wineries in California and elsewhere, and not be embarrassed when they ask if they can ship something home? Thanks to Robert Taylor for the reporting on what’s going on in Pennsylvania and seven other states, including Maryland and New Jersey.

Pennsylvanians may gain the right to receive direct shipments of wine, surprisingly, since Pennsylvania is what is known as a control state, in which alcohol sales are run by the state’s liquor control board rather than by independent retailers. Control states such as Pennsylvania, Utah and Montana are among the last of the dozen holdouts still prohibiting winery direct shipping, though control state Maryland will now open its doors.

Four different direct shipping bills have been introduced in Pennsylvania this session. All four bills allow for the direct shipment of wine to consumers, although they are all likely to be revised before receiving committee attention, possibly in May. “We’re thrilled,” said Terri Cofer Beirne, Eastern counsel for the Wine Institute, a consumer and winery advocacy group. “I’m getting amazing feedback. I was talking to Joe Conti [executive officer of the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board], who told me the board had had a change of heart, and they were supporting direct-to-consumer sales now.”

Read the text of the full article here.

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