The Maryland Comptroller is hard at work holding hearings and meetings studying the effect that direct wine shipping will have on the shippers and retailers of Maryland. One of their goals is to draft a paper on issues surrounding direct wine shipping. A noble cause, indeed, and one that the Federal Trade Comission accomplished on with their 2003 paper: Possible Anticompetitive Barriers to E-Commerce: Wine (download at your pleasure here (pdf)). The paper has its highlights, including a state-by-state analysis of wine shipping. My favorite highlight is the following testimony from Chief Deputy Director of the California Alcoholic Beverage Control Manny Espinoza.

CALIFORNIA ASSEMBLYWOMAN [KERRY] MAZZONI: I understand from your comments, you do not believe that the underage market is a problem?
MR. ESPINOZA: I haven’t seen it, and I base that experience on two things. One, we had [direct wine shipping] for the last 20 years, and we never had an incident where there was complaint about a minor receiving [wine].

THAT SOUND YOU HEAR IS THE THUNDERING VOICE OF REASON.

Maryland’s government is notorious for ignoring – even going out of their way to contradict – that which others states do. This, clearly, is no exception.

Look, I applaud the work that the Comptroller is doing even if it is just busy-work so that the liquor lobby has more time to tee-up some more phantom arguments or contribute to more campaigns. But we can report all we want. The opposition is made up of smoke and mirrors and addressing their public concerns (economy, minors accessing alcohol) allows them to make a mockery of us with thier actual concerns (money, money, money).

I got a lump of coal in my decanter this year. Vinfolio, my former employer and current wine retailer of choice, has stopped shipping wine to Virginia. Word is that previously un-enforcable tax laws and laws governing third-party shippers are suddenly getting lots of attention. Many retailers who wish to play by the rules are deciding it is easier to just not play at all.

So this leaves Washington DC as a sixty square mile oasis into which wine may be shipped. Wine enthusiasts located in Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, and Pennsylvania can flock to the nation’s capital for their vino.

But wait! There is hope! A few articles went around in November about retailers that are lining up on the side of direct wine shipping to Maryland. WJZ.com gets the link.

“As a store owner that specializes in Maryland produced wines, I understand the problems facing the survival and growth of our state’s wine industry,” Birney said. “The distributor side of (Maryland’s) three-tier system does not care about our local wineries and small businesses.”

Direct shipping to Maryland residents will not hurt the local wine shops. Instead, as Maryland residents suddenly get access to a world of wine that was previously unavailable, enthusiasm for wine will increase, helping sales at the shops. Further, allowing Maryland wineries to ship to residents located in their own state will seriously help local wineries and agriculture as well as promote interest in Maryland wine. It is an economic win on all sides.

There are also a few good quotes from Baltimore Delegate Carolyn Krysiak, who you may remember opposed this legislation in 2008. Krysiak now supports direct wine shipping into Maryland and plans to so-sponsor a bill in the 2010 session.

“We encouraged wineries to take a risk and start their businesses and now we’re throwing roadblocks in front of them,” Krysiak said. “I feel some sense of obligation to people who took this gamble in our state.”

Well, good. Score one for the good guys.

Again, leading the charge this year will be the good people at the Marylanders for Better Beer and Wine Laws. Shoot them an email (or a donation) of support and don’t forget to lobby your local Maryland senators and delegates. Legislative session starts in January and I’ll keep posting about updates as they happen.