State legislature looking at wine shipping laws

State legislature looking at wine shipping laws The Florida Legislature is taking up the sensitive issue of wine shipping regulations. A bill passed Monday by the Senate Regulated Industries Committee would prohibit direct wine shipments to individual consumers.
   Legislators and lobbyists from both sides of the wine shipping issue have been working on new regulations for nearly a year, ever since a Supreme Court ruling last May struck down laws in New York and Michigan that had prohibited interstate wine shipments to individuals. The ruling impacted wine shipping rules in another 22 states, which must adjust regulations, but stay within the limits of the high court's ruling.
   The issue pits Florida wine distributors and retailers against major wine producers in California and elsewhere who to ship their product much like any other consumer product ordered from out of state.
   Florida is the second-largest U.S. wine market, and legislators will have to decide how to regulate the developing wine shipping industry.
   The version of the bill passed Monday by the committee would prohibit mass producers from shipping wine to Florida households, blocking shipments from any winery that produces more than 250,000 gallons a year. The bill also includes stipulations ranging from requiring wine shippers to pay a $250 licensing fee, to limiting shipments to no more than 12 cases a year to a single household.