Thoughts on the Supreme Court Ruling...from Trent Preszler of Bedell Cellars

There's been a lot written about the U.S. Supreme Court's 5-4 decision to deem the ban on direct wine shipping unconstitutional. So much has been written, in fact, that I decided not to write something in my Dan's Papers column last week. But, because I did all the leg work for the story and interviewed/emailed with several Long Island winemakers and winery owners, I figured I'd not let that work go to waste.

So, I figured I'd share some of their thoughts with you. Keep a look out over the next few days...I'll post them individually to break them up a bit (some are pretty long).

First, here's what Trent Preszler of Bedell Cellars and Corey Creek Vineyards had to say:

"We're still waiting for the NYS legislature to resolve its position, however there's no question this is a monumental week for wine consumers and small farm wineries around the country.  At Bedell Cellars and Corey Creek Vineyards, a positive resolution of the state and federal positions will no doubt have an economic impact on our business.  Wherever possible, of course, we work very closely with our wholesale distributors around the country to satisfy customer requests. 

However, as a small farm winery it's not cost effective to maintain distributor relationships in every state, nor would we have enough wine to do so.  As such, direct marketing programs are increasingly important.  We host tens of thousands of visitors in our tasting rooms each year -- many of whom live far away or in states where our wines are not distributed, so they join the Wine Club to receive regular shipments.  Others simply want the convenient service of being able to send their purchases back home.  The Supreme Court ruling puts us in a stronger position to more adequately meet the needs of a rapidly changing and geographically diverse customer base."

-- Trent Preszler Vice President, Operations Bedell North Fork, LLC

Comments

[Kevin]

Nice info Lenn. The Big question how does the decision effect the consumer. In other words, what can we as the consumer from other states expect over the next weeks/months?

I would love to start going hog wild ordering online my favorite labels, however, when is a good time to begin doing so? Waiting for the small print to be hashed out is where the questions lie.
Your thoughts on my comments?

PS. I have noticed a few ordering pages have dropped the "We only ship within NY State disclaimer.