Friday, February 21, 2025

Let the Wine Flow into Mississippi

Can't get that a particular cabernet sauvignon because it is not the "state list'?   Tired of visiting lovely California wineries and finding out you can't get their wines shipped to Mississippi even if they are not the "state list"?  Be frustrated no more as Mississippi caught up to 47 other states that allow direct shipments of wine to consumers.  

The Mississippi House of Representatives passed SB #2145 Tuesday.  The Senate already passed the bill.  It now goes to Governor Tate Reeves for his signature.  

Highlights of the bill are: 

* A person who hold's a direct wine shipper's permit may sell and ship wine directly to customers in Mississippi.  Interested parties must apply to the state for the direct shipper's permit.  

* Shipments must contain a label that states the package contains alcohol and requires the signature of a person over the age of 21 for delivery.  

* Direct shipping specialist can not sell any light wine, beer, or other form of alcohol besides wine to customers in Mississippi. 

* The direct shipper can not sell any wine that is distributed in Mississippi.  However,  the direct shipper can sell a wine that is "very limited in quantity" and classified as an "allocated item."  So if you want to get a case of Caymus Cabernet Sauvignon shipped to your house, you are out of luck but if you have a taste for a Mouton-Rothschild '55,  order away.   

* Shipments are limited to a dozen nine liter cases annually to an address.  

* Penalties.  Violating the new law carries a maximum penalty of six months in jail and/or a $1,000 fine.  Violation is classified as a misdemeanor.  Each sale in violation of the law is considered to be a separate offense.   The penalties apply to shippers and  customers.   

ABC can also suspend or revoke the permit of direct shippers as well as impose civil penalties for non-compliance. 

* Direct shipments of wine will be taxed at a rate of 15.5% (Section 11).  

* Taxes collected shall be placed into the general fund of the state treasury.  

The bill passed the Senate on a vote of 24-14.  SB #2145 enjoyed stronger support in the House as it passed on a vote of 80-29. 

State Senators Walter Michel (R-Tico's), Scott Delanoe (R - Beau Rivage), Jeremy England ( R- Gil's Fish Camp ), and Bradford Blackmon (D-Marlo's Backyard BBQ) sponsored the bill.  History & text of bill.

"This is a long time coming for wine aficionados around the state and a big win for consumers.  47 other states allow wineries to ship wines directly to consumers.  It is an archaic law.  This is going to benefit people who visit wine country in California and Oregon.  It won't affect liquor stores," said State Senator Scott Delano.  


32 comments:

Anonymous said...

I guess I'm not a wine connoisseur. Dont really understand why this is an issue and spent time going through the chambers to become law.

Anonymous said...

Sounds expensive to get that special wine. Is this for the Middle Class worker bee or the Upper Class Elites? Also sounds expensive for the winery. How profitable will it be for them to maintain the license to ship directly to MS?

Anonymous said...

Will shipped-in wine be cheaper, more expensive, or about the same as what the consumer would pay anyway? I’m going to guess and say the latter two, the State being averse to parting with its pound of taxgraft.

Mississippi is late to the party on this for those nearer to New Orleans who’ve discovered the sinful benefits of driving down (even on a Sunday) to stock up on a case (or two of more reasonably priced and varied selection) of wine(s).

Kingfish said...

Many Mississippians have enjoyed visiting wineries, especially on the west coast. Problem is, they can't get those wines here and they are usually not on the state list. Can't get them shipped here either as they can in other states. It's more a quality of life bill.

Anonymous said...

Abolish ABC.

Anonymous said...

Is there a fortified wine we can get with this (RIP Nightrain) not available here? Looking at "OTHERS"
www.bumwine.com

Anonymous said...

Hope Tata Tot signs it.

Anonymous said...

Amen! "DOGE" the ABC.

Anonymous said...

They had an opportunity to get this bill right and show that they are truly free market conservatives, instead, they made it to where it will still be as difficult as possible to get wines shipped to you. Oh well, I will continue to get it shipped to relatives in TN and MS will continue to miss out on the revenue.

Wow said...

This is exciting. I remember in the mid 2000s when this first became an option some people I knew accidentally shipped some cases of wine to Mississippi. No way to really enforce anything back then.

Anonymous said...

You can still get Mad Dog 20/20 here. Life is good.

Anonymous said...

All you need is muscadine wine

Anonymous said...

Mississippi - it's where Red Mountain burgundy or any wine in a box is considered top shelf.

Anonymous said...

Hoorah for the drunks, I guess? All alcohol is literally poison.

Anonymous said...

Legislators always make sure to take care of the elites. Making laws to keep competition away from their elite donors. Making laws to keep wages low. It’s a nice little plantation they maintain. Eventually all that will be left are the old money rich, the doctors, the lawyers, government employees, and then the destitute.

Anonymous said...

Mississippi's ABC is antiquated. Their control over the highly allocated bourbons should be looked into. You can get them, but you have to either be a higher up in the tax commission or a well to do politician.

Anonymous said...

I've used overnight carriers like Fed Ex and UPS to ship wine from California wineries to myself. It's vinegar for salad dressings, right?

Anonymous said...

Liquor store industry in Mississippi is very strong politically. This is why we still have a system with ABC and a monopoly for liquor store owners.

Anonymous said...

It's still BOOZE. Regardless of how exclusive or exquisite it is, wine still makes you bloated, ugly, stupid and poor. If you consume alcohol while pregnant or becoming pregnant, you WILL produce inferior offspring. Your children will be less than they could have been.

And this is BEFORE one considers all the trouble a person can get in, driving-while-buzzed (which can have economic consequences on a scale large enough to financially ruin entire extended families - you know, after Bubba Trey III kills a family, while driving the wrong way down I55, needs a whole team of powerbroker lawyers to keep him out of prison, loses the various civil suits, and spends the rest of his life as a financial drain on parents and grandparents, due to the subtle brain injuries he sustained during the accident ... which renders the grandparents unable to help send Bubba Trey III's various younger cousins to private schools - so they have to go to cheap daycares and cheap private schools, instead of good ones. Like I said: WHOLE FAMILY RUINED, because somebody just had to drink, to "fit-in".).

Oh, and banning booze, as I can personally attest, is a great way to cut down on entertaining expenses (both business and home). It selects for nicer friends, too.

Additionally, teetotaling helps avoid "awkward moments", like being arrested after jumping up and down on the 'boot' of a vintage Rolls Royce, or spending the rest of one's life in prison, after drunkenly beating one's wife nearly-to-death - awkward little moments like that, ya know.

Anonymous said...

Once again Mississippi had an opportunity to do something that most of the population wants - direct sales to customers. However, this bill does absolutely nothing for 99% of the population who wants Barefoot or an Ecco Domani. Call us uncivilized rednecks, but these wines that cost less than $10 in LA or Texas will continue to cost 50% more here in our great state. What a waste of time.

Anonymous said...

@11:10 - Many of us drink alcohol responsibly and cook food with alcohol for the flavor. I'm glad that you're in recovery for your addiction and understand your need to demonize alcohol to help you stick with your 12 steps, but the rest of us can and do enjoy a nice wine on occasion.

Anonymous said...

Until we can buy wine and liquor in grocery stores like most nearby states, Mississippi is still lagging behind modern times.

Anonymous said...

Why would they only allow wine to be shipped and not beer also? The beer selection in the state sucks.

Kingfish said...

For a bunch of people who hate booze, y'all shire do talk like a bunch of old drunks

Anonymous said...

Now if only we could get direct shipments of beer as MS's beer selection sucks

Anonymous said...

Yes! I can finally order some of the wine that Emma Watson and her brother/husband are producing at their California winery.

Anonymous said...

Proverbs 20:1-Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.

Anonymous said...

Glad to see this pass, it isn't just West Coast winery's that are missing out. I was recently in Italy and the winery was happy to ship to most States, except Mississippi and a handful of others.

Anonymous said...

@11:41 You are correct Sir! We’re so far behind we think we’re first 😆

Anonymous said...

Very good, 11:10! ...very PRACTICED! You must have been practicing for most of your life: since - what - the age of 16? We were on the Isle of Palms, discussing a dead older cousin, who'd had her moments of glory, along with decades of hideous decline. Someone was remembering that cousin's teenage self-satisfied description of her own, "Young Matron on the Move Act!" - something she deployed when confronted by lawmen who objected to her driving. But she had all sorts of little slapdowns - practiced and ready-for-deployment - for when her drinking was challenged, or her drug use, or her cigarettes... ...or it was time for SOMEONE to pay for her next abortion, or for her next detox.

Booze was low on her list of vices. And, like you, she knew the good wines. That corner of our family were part of the Kiawah Island crowd, and restaurateurs there knew WHICH Chateau Margaux they'd like. But booze had precipitated her father's beating-to-death of his World Champion Coon Dog, and of his second wife, and of various men who'd irked him.

His drunken rages had scarred his children, and had surely been the genesis of their dysfuctions. He'd been the largest employer in his part of the Piedmont Atlantic. But the products of his drunken indiscretions - too many wives, too many children by wives and mistresses and randoms, the children's legal and psychiatric bills... It all added-up, and he died broke.

My cousin, the one who'd played "Young Matron on the Move" died in protracted screaming agony, as Sepsis devoured her. After decades of misuse, opioids no longer worked for her.

I think it's the recurring "Us" thing, in your little slapdown, which made me remember tales of that cousin... envisioning the huddling-together of problem children, over some harmful substance, which is the closest many come to "friendship" and "bonding" - a characteristic maybe you and she shared.

She was a successful groupie, and a successful mistress of big men (and a big woman or two). Her peregrinations carried her along the coasts - from Baltimore to Lafayette ("Daddy" had a chemical plant in Opelousas) - with a marriage into one of South Mississippi's best families, along the way - before her wretched near-homeless years at the end. But it all ended well, since she got the thickest and whitest marble slab, in the best part of the Delta's most exclusive cemetery.

Don't count on being as lucky as my beautiful cousin was, though.

Anonymous said...

The problem is that the folks who have the authority to abolish are the same ones that say where all the money it makes should go.

Anonymous said...

Keep coming back. AA is a cult btw.



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In the spirit of helping those who are less fortunate, Trollfest '09 adopts a cause for which a portion of the proceeds and donations will be donated: Keeping Frank Melton in his home. The “Keep Frank Melton From Being Homeless” booth will sell chances for five dollars to pin the tail on the jackass. John Reeves has graciously volunteered to be the jackass for this honorable excursion into saving Frank's ass. What's an ass between two friends after all? If Mr. Reeves is unable to um, perform, Speaker Billy McCoy has also volunteered as when the word “jackass” was mentioned he immediately ran as fast as he could to sign up.


In order to help clean up the legal profession, Adam Kilgore of the Mississippi Bar will be giving away free, round-trip plane tickets to the North Pole where they keep their bar complaint forms (which are NOT available online). If you don't want to go to the North Pole, you can enjoy Brant Brantley's (of the Mississippi Commission on Judicial Performance) free guided tours of the quicksand field over by High Street where all complaints against judges disappear. If for some reason you are unable to control yourself, never fear; Judge Houston Patton will operate his jail where no lawyers are needed or allowed as you just sit there for minutes... hours.... months...years until he decides he is tired of you sitting in his jail. Do not think Judge Patton is a bad judge however as he plans to serve free Mad Dog 20/20 to all inmates.

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If you get tired come relax at the Fox News Tent. To gain admittance to the VIP section, bring either your Republican Party ID card or a Rebel Flag. Bringing both will entitle you to free drinks.Get your tickets now. Since this is an event for trolls, no ID is required, just bring the hate. Bring the family, Trollfest '07 is for EVERYONE!!!

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