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 shipping. One of the states with a significant restriction is New Jersey. As the state’s lawmakers return to a legislative session this fall, let’s take a look at how the state’s law (specifically, its capacity cap) frustrates freedom of choice for wine consumers and why it is significant.
New Jersey’s Barriers to Direct Shipping
New Jersey joined the ranks of states that are open to direct shipping in the post-Granholm era, passing legislation in 2012 that granted wineries the ability to apply for a direct shipping permit. Great news for many wineries hoping to reach wine lovers in one of the most populous states in the nation. However, this ability was hampered by some unusual restrictions. To start, there is an extremely high annual fee that must be paid for the permit - over $900. But most disappointingly, there is also a caveat that ONLY wineries or their parent companies that DO NOT produce more than 250,000 gallons per year are allowed to ship to consumers. This restriction is called a “capacity cap” and eliminates the ability of the majority of U.S. wineries to ship to consumers in New Jersey.
These types of restrictions are really thinly veiled attempts by wholesalers to keep control over the market in the state and limit competition. Wholesalers routinely cite access to alcohol by underage drinkers as a reason to deny direct shipping. But this argument has been proven not to hold up. Appropriate measures are in place to prevent underage people from receiving packages, and statistics show that not only is underage drinking not increasing, but in fact the opposite is being seen.
Impact on Wineries and Business
As of 2025, New Jersey is the only state with this capacity cap, and it denies direct-shipment access for consumers to more than 90% of wine made in the U.S.! We believe that consumers should determine which wines they can purchase, not state laws. Hundreds of wineries that have successfully grown their brands to make more than 250,000 gallons a year shouldn’t be penalized by New Jersey for being big or being owned by a bigger winery. Removing this barrier to winery direct shipping won’t just help consumers, New Jersey stands to gain as much as $4 million a year in new revenue from sales and excise taxes, and for license fees that new wine shippers would be required to pay, according to research by Wine Institute. One of the wineries that is negatively affected by this restriction is Tablas Creek. Read more from their perspective and how it affects their business on their blog. Note: Jason Haas is a board member of Free the Grapes!
What You Can Do
The New Jersey Legislature returns to work after the election to a “Lame Duck” period until early January, where bills pass quickly and unexpectedly, as leadership advances outstanding initiatives. Two bills remain in play, having been introduced in the spring of 2024. Both bills would remove the 250,000-gallon capacity cap on the size of wineries that can ship to consumers in New Jersey. We hope these bills will have a chance to be reviewed and passed in this upcoming session.
You can help show support for these bills by writing to your New Jersey legislator: https://freethegrapes.org/alert/winery-new-jersey/
