Missourians gain more wine variety

Missouri wineries should gain a larger customer base and Missourians will have a wider selection of wines available for direct shipping after a recent Supreme Court decision.

Before the ruling, Missourians could only make direct purchases from wineries in about 14 states. But Missourians can now have wine shipped to them from more states, said Jim Anderson, program coordinator of the Missouri Grape & Wine Program.

The high court ruled wine laws in New York and Michigan were unconstitutional. Those laws allowed wineries in New York and Michigan to ship to consumers in their own states but blocked direct sales from out-of-state wineries. The court, in a 5-4 decision handed down last month, ruled that states with such laws were unfairly discriminating against wineries outside their borders.

Now these states will have to allow both in-state and out-of-state wineries to ship directly to consumers or ban all in-state direct shipments.

Missouri consumers already had more choice than some buyers. Missouri practices reciprocity with 14 states by allowing direct shipments from wineries in states that extend the same privileges to Missouri.

As a result of the ruling, state legislatures, regulators and attorney generals are evaluating their state laws and deciding whether changes will be necessary.

Michael Sykuta, assistant professor of agricultural economics at MU, said the ruling means that Missouri laws could be called into question on the grounds that they discriminate against states that aren’t party to a reciprocity agreement.

The status of Missouri’s reciprocal law is under review, said Jim Garner, a spokesman for the Missouri attorney general’s office.

Wineries hope to see an increase in sales as some states begin to open their doors to direct shipment of Missouri wines. Difficulties previously arose when out-of-state consumers visited Missouri wineries and were unable to reorder once they returned to their home state.

“This decision gives the consumer a choice,” said Anderson of Missouri’s Grape & Wine Program. “If they find a wine they like in Missouri, they can go ahead and order and get it shipped to them.”

There are lots of good quality wines in Missouri, but some people cannot purchase them unless they go directly to the wineries, said Jennifer Rhodus, president of Missouri Grape Growers’ Association.

While wineries are positive about the increase in sales, they do not expect the impact to be instantaneous.

Smaller wineries with a small percentage of out-of-state sales, such as Little Hills Winery in St. Charles, have the potential to gain the most.

“Basically, the ones that are going to benefit are the ma and pa wineries that don’t have distributors or do not fall in a tourist location,” Rhodus said.

Stone Hill Winery’s out-of-state direct shipment sales account for less than 5 percent of total revenue. The winery, with locations in Hermann and Branson, has already seen a significant number of out-of-state consumers placing wine orders. Thomas Held, director of sales at Stone Hill Winery, has an 80,000 member VIP list, and 60,000 are from other states.

“We need to take care of those people that are from multiple states away,” Held said.

Once the Missouri legislature decides the status of its current reciprocal law, Missouri wineries and wine consumers will know better how it will affect them.

“I see it as a win-win situation for everyone,” Rhodus said.