Texas Holds Up Wine

Filed in archive Wine Shops on April 11, 2006

Wine shops in Texas are going to have to stick to the law, and the Texas alcoholic beverage Commission is going to make sure they do. That means restrictions on importing wines.

From MSNBC: The law imposes a ban against ordering wine from any location out of state. But until three weeks ago, Beck says, the TABC hardly ever enforced it. It had been under a 2001 court-ordered injunction not to enforce the law, because questions about the law's constitutionality had wound up in court.

Those questions prodded the Texas Legislature to pass Senate Bill 877 in May 2005. The measure allows out-of-state wineries to ship wine directly to Texas consumers, but prohibits out-of-state retailers from doing the same thing.

Now, the TABC is in court again -- this time being sued by out-of-state retailers intent on creating a national wine market.

I have to say that this law doesn't make a lot of sense to me. Maybe I'm missing something.