My very own State Representative, Deborah Hudson (R) (yes, both my state Rep and my state Senator are Republicans), will be introducing a bill to end Delaware’s 72-year-old ban on direct home wine shipment.
Current law only allows shipment of wines bought on-site at wineries, and keeps Delawareans from buying many wines, because all alcoholic beverages have to be sold through a three-tiered network of distributors, wholesalers and retailers, said House Minority Whip Deborah Hudson.
“Retailers claim they can acquire wines that their customers request, but the vast majority of them–more than 7,000 wineries the U.S.–are not handled by a distributor, so products of many of these small businesses cannot be purchased by Delawareans under the current system,” said Hudson.
One must assume that the reason the current ban is in place is because retailers here in Delaware, like Total Wine and other liquor/wine stores, fear competition from the internet ordering and delivery. Rep. Hudson says studies in Maryland and Virginia disprove that.
“In Maryland and Virginia, studies done after the enactment of direct wine shipment laws showed that retail sales of wine steadily increased in both states,” said Hudson.
So I guess I need someone to explain to me why this bill should not be passed.