Victory for Vinophiles

For wine lovers everywhere who hate that nagging sense of illegality when ordering wine from out of state, today is a good day:

Wine lovers may buy directly from out-of-state vineyards, the Supreme Court ruled Monday, striking down laws banning a practice that has flourished because of the Internet and growing popularity of winery tours.

The 5-4 decision strikes down laws in New York and Michigan that make it a crime to buy wine directly from vineyards in another state. In all, 24 states have laws that bar interstate shipments.

When Mary and I were in Napa last November, the sales pitch at every winery included the same refrain. "Don't worry", we were told, "we ship out of state. And now that we know you, feel free to order from us in the future."

While that trip did net us a case and a half of fine wine, and while it was kind of cool knowing the secret handshake to enable repeat orders, it's also nice that we can now order from whomever we want, whenever we want, and not have to worry that something will go wrong.

Besides, these import laws were silly things to begin with; the Supreme Court did the right thing when it struck them down.