When jazz singer Peggy Raley decided to open a winery in Delaware, she first had to get the local state legislature to pass a law allowing wineries in the state.
If states allow in-state wineries to ship to their consumers, they must allow out-of-state wineries to do the same.
The court said that a New York law that allowed wineries to ship to state residents but made it all but impossible for out-of-state wineries to do the same was unconstitutional discrimination.
"New York's regulatory scheme allows licensed wineries, whether in state or out of state, direct access to a market of sophisticated oenophiles," Judge Wesley wrote in the decision released yesterday.
A federal judge ordered New York State yesterday to allow wineries in the rest of the country to ship wine directly to consumers in the state.
Mr. Shoup hopes that the plan would protect Washington's wine industry against disastrous harvests by allowing wineries that use grapes from California and Oregon the potentially attractive new appellation.
GOV. George E. Pataki's veto of a bill that would have allowed small wineries to ship directly to out-of-state customers has left a sour taste on the East End.
In his proposed budget, Governor Pataki seeks to liberalize commerce by allowing out-of-state wineries to ship directly to New York residents.
The law allows wineries that make less than 250,000 gallons of wine annually (a "capacity cap limit") to ship wine to state residents.
Rudolf Marchesi, proprietor of the five-year-old Alba winery near Finesville, said: "The 1981 act allowed more wineries and got a lot of people actively involved.