Ill. law should keep buyers closer to home

I'm between appointments in hooking up with local wineries, so in the meantime spotted this story about the wine laws in Illinois changing June 1. Basically, it will force residents who want to order a substantial number of cases from out-of-state wineries -- up to 12 a year -- to pay for a shipping license.

Another provision of the law will allow small Illinois wineries producing less than 25,000 gallons of wine to self-distribute up to 5,000 gallons (about 2,100 cases) of their wine to Illinois retailers, according to the story that ran in last Wednesday's Chicago Tribune.

The passage of the bill last August was covered in more detail in a documented in a Winse Spectator Online story. That story pointed out that some Illinois-based retailers, who figured to benefit by the change in the law, weren't happy with it. “It amazes me that you can buy a gun or even a bride over the Internet, but you can’t buy a bottle of wine in many states,” said Brian Rosen, president and CEO of retailer Sam’s Wines & Spirits. Sam's clocks some $10 million of its $70 million in annual sales over the Internet, with much of that volume registered outside the state. “If retail shipments can be banned here, then maybe they’ll be banned tomorrow in California. We may wake up one day to find we can ship wine legally to Moline, Ill., and no place else.”

The Wine Institute reported on the change in this fashion on its Web site: "ON JUNE 1, 2008 ILLINOIS WILL TRANSFER FROM A RECIPROCITY STATE TO A PERMIT STATE. Beginning June 1, 2008 wineries must have an approved Illinois direct-to-consumer shipper's permit, file reports, pay sales tax and excise tax. Every applicant is required to obtain a bond for $1000 or 2x its estimated tax liability, whichever amount is greater. The permit fee varies according to the annual production level. Wineries with permits will be able to ship up to 12 cases annually to a consumer. As of January 1, 1992 an adult resident or holder of an alcoholic beverage license in a state which affords Illinois licensees or adult residents an equal reciprocal shipping privilege may ship for personal use and not for resale, not more than 2 cases of wine (each case containing not more than 9 liters) per year to any adult Illinois resident."