Texas will not appeal ruling on direct shipment of wine

Food & Drink Weekly, Sept 8, 2003

Texas will not appeal ruling on direct shipment of wine: Texas will not appeal the ruling, which saw the ban on direct shipments of wine to consumers from out-of-state wineries overturned. The victory for the wine industry is being seen as an important step forward in the battle for direct shipping, which has been taken up in a number of lawsuits around the country.

"This is really the first complete legal victory in the direct shipping issue. Texas is the largest state opened to direct shipping," said Jeremy Benson, executive director of Free the Grapes!, a coalition of consumer and industry groups opposing state wine-shipping laws. The general counsel of the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission said the regulatory agency decided not to pursue an appeal given costs involved.