Consumer group founded to fight state wine shipping law

Doesn't matter if the bottle is worth $4 or $40,000, wine lovers want "their" bottle no matter what it may be. So, there's been persistent grumbling since last summer in Illinois wine circles over the state's wine shipping law, which was amended to block Illinois residents from ordering wine from out-of-state retailers and other non-winery vendors. (Direct shipping from an out-of-state winery is permitted if said winery pays for an Illinois shipping permit).

Looking to overturn the law is a new group, Illinois Wine Consumer Coalition. It's mission: "Our foundational principle is that Illinois consumers should have full access to the wines of their choice from both Illinois and out-of-state wineries and retailers. A well-regulated and efficient wine market demands full access to all wines for adult Illinois consumers."

Gretchen Neuman, a Chicago wine and food blogger who posts at VinoVerve, serves on the coalition's steering committee. She said the idea of forming the coalition developed among a group of wine-loving bloggers and others who found each other on the Web and were disappointed that they couldn't get the wine they wanted as they had been able to do before.

"Why should the state tell us we can't have it because Judge & Dolph won't import it?" Neuman asked. "No one tells me where to buy my clothes and I can buy food anywhere in the country where it's legally imported. Why is wine the exception?"

The coalition is intent on showing consumers how they've lost the power of choice when it comes to wine buying and, in turn, is urging residents to contact state officials, their state representatives, the media and other wine consumers about overturning the ban on using out-of-state retailers. The coalition characterizes the shipping restrictions, which went into effect last July, as "nothing more than a payoff to the well-heeled Illinois alcohol distributors."

Neuman thinks repealing the ban won't harm Illinois liquor distributors or wholesalers.

"Ninety-nine-point-nine percent of wine buyers go to their liquor store or to Costco where a distributor brings it in,'' she said. "For those of us with interest in specific wines it (the law) sticks in our craw."