Ever since, Pennsylvania residents have been able to order wine to be shipped directly to their homes or offices. But many out-of-state wineries remain leery of the legal limbo and won't ship to Pennsylvania consumers.
"We're still waiting on that clarity from the legislature," said Linette Quinn, a state police spokeswoman. She said there had been no enforcement actions involving direct shipping since the rulings. (New Jersey prohibits all direct shipping.)
Pennsylvania winemakers and wine drinkers are urging state lawmakers to follow the example of the 35 states that permit direct shipping, including 12 of the 19 "control" states that, like Pennsylvania, have state-run systems.
"We really wish they'd recognize what's happened in other states," said Bob Mazza, owner of Mazza Vineyards near Erie and president of the Pennsylvania Winery Association.
"We're not opposed to the LCB," he added. Direct shipping "is really not going to cut into the LCB's profitability or revenue."
Mazza and other winery operators and wine merchants testified against the proposed law, House Bill 2165, at legislative hearings at Paradocx Vineyards in Landenberg, Chester County.
They argued that the bill would too severely restrict the size of wineries permitted to ship to customers, and would make direct shipping too cumbersome and expensive. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Paul Costa (D., Allegheny), would limit direct shipping to wineries that produce 80,000 gallons of wine a year or less.
Costa said that limit was to keep large, out-of-state producers from shipping to Pennsylvania customers while permitting in-state wineries to continue to do so. Representatives of Pennsylvania wineries said the current limit of 200,000 gallons should be maintained, giving in-state wineries room to grow.
