Free the Grapes! Mission To Improve Direct-to-Consumer Wine Shipping Every year, Free the Grapes! works toward one clear goal: to augment—not replace—the three-tier system with legal, regulated direct-to-consumer wine shipping. As 2026 begins, the landscape continues to shift. Some states are moving forward. Others are digging in. And a few are making compliance more complicated ... Read more

Other States Are Moving Forward, but the Ocean State Remains Behind In an era when most of the United States has embraced direct-to-consumer (DTC) wine shipping laws, Rhode Island remains an outlier. Most states have adopted modern direct-to-consumer wine shipping laws that allow regulated remote ordering. In contrast, Rhode Island’s wine shipping law still requires ... Read more

Key takeaways related to winery direct-to-consumer shipping The Silicon Valley Bank released its annual “State of the Wine Industry” report, which looks back at DTC activity in the 2025 calendar year. The findings paint a difficult picture across the industry, but especially for the direct-to-consumer sales channel. Here are a few key takeaways that relate ... Read more

There are certain situations where the 800 lb gorilla just won’t budge. And it’s a shame, because consumers could finally enjoy real freedom of choice in their wine selections if these huge restrictions weren’t in the way. This is the case in five states across the country, in spite of all of the gains that ... Read more

LEGISLATIVE UPDATES ON DTC SHIPPING 2025 has seen quite a bit of activity on the direct shipping front. As you will remember, Arkansas, Delaware, and Mississippi all saw legislation pass, though there is still room for improvement within that legislation. Below is a look at current activities alphabetically by state:  ARKANSAS: Direct shipping law now ... Read more

Great strides have been made to open all 50 of the United States to winery-to-consumer direct shipping – and we’re almost there! But while much of the focus is on states that ban direct shipping, there is still work to be done in several other states that maintain significant restrictions, despite being “open” to direct ... Read more

Why Many Wineries Can’t Ship to Consumers In Several States Since its founding in 1998, Free the Grapes’ mission has been to not only remove bans on winery-to-consumer direct shipping, but also streamline restrictions on direct shipping in many states. Did you know that several states still carry significant restrictions that hinge on whether a ... Read more

Legislative Updates On DTC Shipping Below is a look at current activities by state, of note: ARKANSAS: DTC Shipping Law Now In Effect As of August 5, the new law allowing DTC shipping, directly to consumers, will be in effect. This is HB 1476, which established a wine direct shipping permit like those in use ... Read more

A Disappointing Outcome for Wine-Loving Consumers in The First State In June 2025, we shared the news that the Delaware legislature was voting on a bill regarding winery-to-consumer direct shipping. Delaware remains one of only two states that ban this kind of shipping, and it has been a subject of much discussion for years among ... Read more

Why the fight for legal, regulated direct shipping remains vital Why does the fight for winery-to-consumer direct shipping remain vital? Great success has been achieved since the Free the Grapes! campaign was established in 1998. The map of the United States representing freedom for direct shipping has changed; from a patchwork of closed states and ... Read more