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Friday, September 28, 2007

Law - "Ohio Wine Lovers to be Cut-off October 1" [Updated]

A press release from Free the Grapes begins:

NAPA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--A new law effective Monday, October 1 will prevent Ohio wine lovers from continuing to purchase wines directly from many popular mid-sized wineries, according to Free the Grapes! (www.freethegrapes.org)

During the closing stages of this year’s budget process, an amendment was slipped into the budget bill that prohibits medium and large wineries and wine companies whose total production exceeds 62,500 cases from shipping wine directly to Ohio consumers. The law was signed in June and goes into effective Monday.

Additionally, the law creates a potentially unworkable system that may scare eligible wineries from shipping any wine to Ohio consumers. The bill sets a 24-case annual shipping limit per “family household,” rather than an annual limit per winery, per individual, as is common in most states. Because wineries cannot be sure how much wine a household has purchased directly from others, wineries will not risk the penalties of non-compliance. Other states using a similar measurement, including Indiana and Massachusetts, have been considered “prohibited” by wineries and common carriers.

[Update 10/19/07] Here is a story the ILB just ran across in the Cleveland Plain Dealer, dated Sept. 26th. Some quotes:
Columbus- Jack West likes a nice bottle of California wine now and then. For the last few years, the Chagrin Falls man has belonged to the Merryvale Vineyards' wine club, which ships him four bottles every couple of months.

But beginning Monday, because of a new state law lobbied for by the state's powerful Wholesale Beer and Wine Association, West's shipments will stop. And so will deliveries for thousands of other Ohioans who order wine from out of state.

That's because a provision was slipped into the state budget without public debate that will ban direct shipping to Ohioans from wineries producing over 150,000 gallons a year - roughly 63,000 cases. The more than 100 Ohio wineries all fall under that threshold, according to the Ohio Wine Producers Association.

"We're talking about four bottles every two months," said West. "We're not bringing it in by the truckload; that's what makes the whole thing so ridiculous. Someone pulled a fast one here."

But one of the main architects of the budget said the ban, which was added in the Senate Finance Committee this spring, wasn't what he meant to do.

"It was not supposed to apply to consumers," Rep. Matthew Dolan, a Russell Township Republican and chairman of the House Finance Committee, said Tuesday. "When it came back from the Senate, I probably didn't read it as closely as I should have."

Posted by Marcia Oddi on September 28, 2007 08:53 AM
Posted to General Law Related