WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The new wine shipping law inserted into the recently approved Massachusetts budget continues to endorse a ban on the shipment of hundreds thousands of wines into the state. This fact has gone unmentioned in coverage of the issue and in the bill itself, despite the American Wine Consumer Coalition, its members and other advocates alerting lawmakers to this loophole in the law in recent months.
All of the following wines may not be shipped to Massachusetts residents under the new wine shipping law because the only U.S. source for these wines is wine retailers and wine stores, which are banned from shipping into the state under the new law:
French Champagne
French Bordeaux
French
Sauterne
French Red Burgundy
French White
Burgundy
French Rhone Wines
French Loire Wines
French
Alsatian Wines
French Rose From Provence
All
other French Wines
German Rieslings
All Other
German Wines
Spanish Rioja Wines
All Other
Spanish Wines
Vintage Port From Portugal
Barolo
From Italy
Barbaresco From Italy
All Other
Italian Wines
Austrian Riesling
Austrian Gruner
Veltliner
All Other Austrian Wines
Australian
Shiraz
Australian Barossa Valley Wines
Australian
Clare Valley Wines
Australian Eden Valley Wines
Australian
Adelaide Hills Wines
All Other Australian Wines
New
Zealand Pinot Noirs
New Zealand Chardonnays
New
Zealand Sauvignon Blancs
All Other New Zealand Wines
South
African Pinotage
All Other South African Wines
Chilean
Merlot
Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon
All Other
Chilean Wines
Argentine Malbec
Argentine
Cabernet Sauvignon
All Other Argentine Wines
Uruguayan
Tannat
All Other Uruguayan wines
Canadian Ice
Wine
British Columbian Wines
All Other Canadian
Wines
All Greek Wines
All Other Wines Sold, But
Not Produced, in the United States
In addition to all foreign made wines being banned from shipment due to their only U.S. source, wine stores and wine retailers, being banned from shipping to Massachusetts, the following wines and products will also be banned for the same reason:
- The vast majority of rare and collectible American wines most often sold at auction houses and wine retailers
- The vast majority of non-American (Bordeaux, Burgundy, Rhone, etc) collectible and investment grade wines that are almost always sold by retailers and auction houses.
- Wine-of-the-Month Club Memberships
- Wines sold as parts of Gift Baskets
- The vast majority of Kosher wines
“We understand that a small cup of water for the parched is better than no water at all, however there is no reason why the legislature could not have provided the state’s consumers with a full glass of water— or wine—rather than choosing to unnecessarily protect special interests,” said Tom Wark, executive director of the American Wine Consumer Coalition.
By banning the delivery of an entire class of wines, the Massachusetts legislature may have made the same mistake they did the last time they attempted to address this issue and invited a constitutional challenge and lost. It would be in the best interests of the Legislature, the State, and, most importantly, consumers, to see this new law expanded to allow consumers to have wine shipped to them from out-of-state wine retailers as well as from out-of-state wineries.