High court wine battle draws local attention

Alicia Robinson

Local wine enthusiasts are hoping the U.S. Supreme Court will allow

vino to flow across state lines, after the court heard cases Tuesday

involving states’ regulation of alcohol sales.

Nearly all 50 states produce wine, but 24 of them have laws that

prohibit direct sales of wine from producers in other states.

California does not have such a law.

States claim they need to regulate alcohol sales for safety, while

winemakers argue the laws are an unconstitutional protection by

states of their own wineries.

Wine producers believe the restrictions allow alcohol distributors

to have a monopoly on wine sales. Small wineries can sell their

product in restrictive states through a licensed distributor, but

that drives up the price and limits access, said Larry Fox, president

of the Costa Mesa-based Orange County Wine Society.

California is the largest wine producer in the United States, but

people in half of the states can’t try its products, Fox said.

Small wineries are trying to get a foothold in a profitable

industry, and direct sales to winery visitors and over the Internet

are essential for that, said Richard Moriarty, who owns Newport Beach

Vineyards and Winery.

“It’s sort of the lifeblood of a small winery,” he said. “[Big

distributors] have a catalog that’s like an inch thick, and you sort

of get lost in the mix.”

Moriarty’s first production in 2001 was 82 cases of wine, which he

sold to local restaurants and at stores such as Hi-Time Wine Cellars

in Costa Mesa.

Moriarty is petitioning the city of Newport Beach to correct what

he thinks was an oversight in his operating license. He’s not allowed

to offer tastings and sales at his winery, and he can’t sell wine

online.

The debate hinges on the 21st Amendment, which gave states total

control over alcohol sales within their borders and included

provisions that say states can’t discriminate against businesses in

other states.

“How much force should the 21st Amendment have?” said Mary Ellen

Gale, a professor at Whittier Law School in Costa Mesa. “Should it

have such force that it cuts off the constitutional protection for

economic protection? ... There’s a larger question here about how we

want to structure our national economy.”

In some past cases, the Supreme Court has chosen to support the

21st Amendment, Gale said.

Wine lovers want to see the sales restrictions struck down so they

can sample more varieties of wine.

“It’s hard for a small winery to bring their wine into another

state because the bigger distributors don’t want to mess around with

them,” said Diana Hirst, general manager at Hi-Time Wine Cellars. “It

gives people choices, where they couldn’t get [those wines] in their

state.”

Attempts to reach local distributors at Young’s Market Co. in

Anaheim and Southern Wine and Spirits in Cerritos were unsuccessful.

The Supreme Court has until the end of its session in June to

decide the case.