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Sunday, August 19, 2007

Ind. Law - New York has a good idea here

The ILB has posted many articles about interstate wine shipping, including this August 4th entry quoting from a Fort Wayne Journal Gazette column titled "Severe impact of 2006 wine-shipping law changes on small, family-owned wineries."

This article from the Long Island Suffolk Journal reports a good idea, although the problems pointed out in the Journal Gazette column need to be addressed first. Some quotes:

ALBANY, NY -- New York State Agriculture Commissioner Patrick Hooker today announced nearly $59,000 to create or improve the websites of 60 New York State wineries. This is the second round of these grants, which are designed to increase the visibility of New York wines via the internet, which in turn will help attract more tourists to New York’s wine regions, and expand the sales of New York wines to customers throughout the country.

“New York’s wineries experienced great success from the first round of website improvement grants that were issued last year, and we are pleased to offer another round to help continue this good work,” the Commissioner said. “The internet offers small businesses like our New York wineries to reach millions of consumers with the simple click of a button. I am pleased that we are able to help our wineries enhance their websites in order to take advantage of these endless opportunities the internet provides.”

The wine web improvement grants provide New York wineries with a matching grant up to $1,000 to create or improve their website. Eligible projects included adding age verification software, foreign language translation, direct shipment capabilities, shopping cart functions, credit card purchase capabilities, adding or improving photographs or maps, and increasing accessibility for persons with disabilities.

Since 2005, New York wineries have been able to direct ship wine in New York State and outside of the State if reciprocal shipping agreements are in place. This law allows for the shipment of up to 36 cases (9 liters) per year to a single individual. Safeguards in the law prevent the sale to individuals under 21 years of age. Since the law took effect, approximately one-quarter of New York’s wineries have begun selling their wines to out-of-state residents.

It is not so simple in Indiana, as the Journal Gazette column explained:
Adams said they constantly get calls from people who have had Winzerwald’s wines at a friend’s house and want to order some, but the winery has to turn them down.

“They say, ‘We had it at Bob and Jane’s, can we get some of it?’ ” Adams said. But if they haven’t been to the winery in person – and have the paperwork to prove it – the answer has to be no.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on August 19, 2007 01:41 PM
Posted to General Law Related