Allow Direct Shipment of Wine to Massachusetts

Boston Globe Editorial: Next year, customers should be able to order bubbly directly.:

It’s time for Beacon Hill to get moving — and stop putting the interests of liquor stores ahead of consumers.

A US Supreme Court decision in 2005 struck down state laws that prohibit out-of-state wineries from shipping directly to consumers; Massachusetts had such a law. But the Legislature, under pressure from alcohol wholesalers and retailers, has dragged its feet about setting up licensing rules for direct shipments. And in the absence of such rules, few wineries or shipping companies will risk sending wine into the Commonwealth.

Representative Ted Speliotis, who co-chairs the Legislature’s Committee on Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure, says he hopes the two sides of the issue will reach a compromise. Yet the opposing sides are so far apart that a compromise is hard to envision; while wine retailers want the ability to sell their products online, they don’t want the competition that direct shipping by wineries might provide.

Dear Representative Ted Speliotis,

Don't look to compromise with liquor stores and distributors.

Allow Direct Shipment of Wine to Massachusetts as the US Supreme Court decision allows.

There aren't two sides to this story. Only one.

Allow direct shipment of wine to Massachusetts, and by the way, take a look at your email some time and reply. I've written to you numerous times about this.

--Steve