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Indiana's New Direct Shipment Law
So you thought you could get wine shipped back...

Indiana’s New Direct Shipment Law So you thought you could get wine shipped back.... Lately, we have had a lot of people mention that while visiting California they are discovering that most wineries still will not ship wine to Indiana in spite of the new Indiana direct-shipping law.

You didn't really think it would be that easy, did you? Remember, the liquor and wine wholesalers lobby has a lot more money that the pro- shipment lobby. By the time they stopped throwing restrictive language into the law, the wineries outside Indiana just threw up their hands and said "no."

Here is what the law really says:

Wineries can obtain a $100 permit to direct ship into Indiana if they sell less than 500,000 gallons (or 210,300 cases) in Indiana and the Indiana consumer makes an initial onsite visit to the winery and provides the following:

(A) Name, telephone number, Indiana address, or consumer’s Indiana business address;
(B) Proof of age by a state issued driver’s license or state issued identification card showing the consumer to be at least twenty-one (21) years of age;
(C) A verified statement, made under penalties for perjury, that the consumer is at least 21 years of age, has an Indiana address and intends to use the wine for personal use and not for resale.

Then, if the winery does not have a wholesaler in the state of Indiana, and the winery qualifies with the Secretary of State to do business in Indiana, and pays excise, sales, and use taxes monthly directly to Indiana, then they can ship you a case of wine.

However, a consumer may not receive more than two hundred sixteen (216) liters of wine in total from one or more direct wine sellers in a calendar year. This means that if an Indiana consumer receives 24 cases in a calendar year from other wineries and a winery ships that consumer one bottle, that winery could be in violation of law.

All in all, a clever compromise to allow Indiana wineries to ship to consumers while discouraging out-of-state wineries from shipping in. Think about it — we pay people to write laws like this!

August 23, 2006