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 have been made for freedom of consumer choice in wine shipping.
5 States Where Wine Lovers’ Choices Suffer
Five states are “open” to winery-to-consumer direct shipping in theory, but not in the true sense in practice. Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Wyoming all enforce a restriction that limits which wines can be shipped based on their relationship, or lack thereof, with a wholesaler in that state. Currently, Delaware is set to join this group in August 2026, making it the fifth.
Indiana
Permits winery-to-consumer shipments ONLY from wineries that DO NOT have a wholesaler in the state.
So, your favorite winery whose wine you can buy at retail? Don’t expect to be able to join their wine club, try more of their wines that are not sold at retail, or ship wines back to your home after a visit to the winery.
Louisiana and Wyoming
Permits winery-to-consumer shipments only for wines that are not currently in distribution in the state.
How do you, as a consumer, know if the wine might be sold at retail in the state? Hard to tell unless you can find it on a shelf at a retailer you frequent. It can even be difficult for the winery to know at any given point, so it may be easier for them to just not ship at all.
Mississippi
Permits winery-to-consumer shipments only for those wines not sold in the state control system, or to those wines already offered for sale but identified by distributors, brokers, or solicitors as "highly allocated" via a state website.
This is extremely complicated to navigate. How does anyone know which wines are available to ship at any time? Only those in the know would think to visit Mississippi’s Department of Revenue website to find a list here.
Delaware
Though the legislation has not gone into effect yet, Delaware will be joining the group that only permits winery-to-consumer shipments from wineries without a wholesaler in the state.
The bill that was put forth was an about-face from the kind of DTC shipping regulations that had been championed in the past. Read more about what has been called “nothing less than a travesty”.Free the Grapes! fought against the bill, which was signed into law, and you can still voice your displeasure. Write to your legislator here.
We’ll continue to beat the drum for streamlining the needlessly complicated shipping regulations that exist across the country.
For a full summary of Direct to Consumer Shipping requirements for wineries, see this useful table: https://wineinstitute.org/our-work/compliance/direct-shipping-table/
