Supreme Court Ruling Good News for Wine Industry

New York, NY —

New York wineries say a U.S. Supreme Court ruling is good news for the local wine industry and for people who buy and sell wine online. WNYC reporter Fred Mogul explains.

REPORTER: New York, Connecticut and 22 other states have laws all preventing consumers from buying wine by direct shipment, if it is produced out-of-state. The High Court now says those laws are unfair and anti-competitive.

Bud Koehler is one of the owners of Osprey's Dominion winery. He says changing the law will help out-of-state customers who don't want to drive all the way out to his vineyards on the North Fork of Long Island.

KOEHLER: They would like to have the wine shipped to them from NY. They like the wine. They've had it before. And now we can do that.

REPORTER: Koehler expects a 15 percent increase in the proportion of wine he sells without distributors or wholesalers.

Local retailers say they don't expect to lose much business. As one store-owner put it, buyers typically only seek direct shipments from wineries or online vendors for specialized bottles, not for their staples.