Direct Wine Shipment Bill Hits Snag

ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- A bill allowing consumers to get wine shipped directly to their homes from the winery hit a road block in Annapolis on Thursday.

Direct wine shipments coming from a retail store are no longer an option, but wineries would be allowed to mail them to homes under the bill. The change is part of a compromise that finally got the legislation to both the House and Senate floors.

But the bill may still wither.

Both versions allow Maryland consumers to order up to 18 cases of wine per year directly to their homes, but in the House, the measure hit a bump in the road to passage after someone raised a question about kosher wine from retailers.

"We're going to get with legal counsel and look into that issue," said Democratic Delegate Dereck Davis, the chairman of the Economic Matters Committee.

The legislation hit a different snag in the Senate.

There was an amendment calling on the state comptroller's office to study the economic impact of allowing Maryland retailers to ship wine to customers. The proposed change in the legislation spurred a lively discussion, 11 News reporter David Collins said.

"Maryland retail licensees who operate wine shops say they're losing hundreds of thousands of dollars because they can't ship to consumers," said Sen. Jamie Raskin, D-Montgomery County.

"Retailers do not want to ship in state or out of state. They do not want to ship," argued Sen. Joan Carter Conway, D-Baltimore.

Raskin responded, "There's nothing I'm asking for that would study the question of allowing out-of-state retailers. I'm convinced for now that there's no consensus for that."

Both the House and Senate will take up the bill again on Friday.