Kentucky Can’t Bar Interstate Wine Sales

(CN) - The 6th Circuit threw out a Kentucky law barring out-of-state wineries from shipping their wine directly to customers. The decision mirrors the Supreme Court's rejection of state laws favoring in-state wineries.

In Granholm v. Heald, the Supreme Court determined that state laws allowing in-state wineries to ship directly to customers, but banning out-of-state wineries from doing the same, violate the dormant Commerce Clause.

Taking the high court's lead, the district court granted partial summary judgment to out-of-state wineries that had challenged Kentucky's law as discriminatory.

Wine and Spirit Wholesalers of Kentucky appealed, but the Cincinnati court affirmed, saying the lower court correctly based its judgment on Supreme Court precedent.

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