05/18/05 High court ruling first step?

05/18/05 High court ruling first step?

The U.S. Supreme Court is now the friend of the Northwest wine industry, especially those wineries who participate in direct to consumer shipments of their product. So says Tim Hightower, President of the Washington Wine Institute. HIGHTOWER: You ask any winery in the state, they're excited about the decision. I mean it's certainly a step in the right direction. We're all excited to see that happen, as we're better off today I think then we were yesterday. What Hightower is referring to is the High Court's ruling earlier this week that laws in twenty-four states banning out of state, direct-to-consumer wine sales were discriminatory and therefore unconstitutional. While none of the Northwest states has such rules on their books, our region's wineries were not allowed to ship product to consumers into states that had that law in effect. But despite the Supreme Court ruling, this does not mean Northwest wineries will be able to automatically ship their products into the previously banned states. Hightower says those states can choose to allow all wineries, in state or out, to ship directly to consumers, or go the opposite route. HIGHTOWER: If a state decides that they don't want to have any direct shipments into their state and they can do it on a non-discriminatory basis, it's not economic protectionism for local industry, we live with it, it's the law of the land, or would be. But Hightower expects most states to open up their markets to direct to consumer wine shipments from Northwest wineries soon, opening prospects for more business for Northwest wine makers and distributors.
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