House approves Internet wine bill

With a nudge from House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi, the Massachusetts House approved a bill yesterday that would make it easier for wine lovers to buy directly from some producers, but that would continue to require major vineyards across the country to sell their products through a politically powerful network of wholesale distributors and retailers.

The House approved the measure in response to a US Supreme Court ruling in May. That judgment struck down laws in New York and Michigan that allowed in-state wineries, but not out-of-state businesses, to ship directly to consumers. Massachusetts and 23 other states have had to revise their laws so that all wineries are treated equally.

The bill now goes to the Senate. Aimed at out-of-state wine producers, it would prohibit wineries that produce more than 50,000 gallons a year from distributing directly to consumers.

Wine aficionados support the legislation. They say that Internet purchases will allow them to buy wines that Massachusetts distributors are not currently providing to retailers.

Opponents of the House legislation argue that the proposed law, which they say would be the only one in the nation, keeps in place a politically influential wine wholesaler cartel.

The opponents also say the measure would create economic hardships for several major wineries operating in Massachusetts.

Yesterday, Representative Vincent A. Pedone, the chairman of the House joint Committee on Consumer Affairs and Professional Licensure, insisted that the bill is a ''good balance between over-regulation and no regulation at all."

The bill includes safeguards to make sure that only adults can purchase wine that is shipped directly to their homes. The containers of wine must include a label requiring a signature.

Before accepting the shipment, the buyer must not only sign, but also produce a Massachusetts driver's license or another valid form of identification.

''If we just opened the market up, there is no way that law enforcement and regulators can enforce who is going to get the wine," said Pedone, a Democrat from Worcester.

Originally, the House bill set a lower ceiling, 30,000 gallons, to define wineries that would be prohibited from shipping directly to consumers. But several of the state's largest and fastest-growing vineyards, most notably those in Westport and the Nashoba Valley, are near or above that ceiling.

This prompted House members yesterday to revise the ban to producers of 50,000 or more gallons.

Other proponents say that the bill also protects an industry -- retailers and wholesale distributors that have large infrastructure in place and provide jobs and pay taxes in Massachusetts -- from being destroyed by out-of-state competition.

Retailers are already facing a serious challenge from a ballot petition drive that would allow grocery stores to sell wine directly to consumers.

DiMasi abstained from casting a vote yesterday because of a family connection, a spokeswoman said. His father-in-law, Bruce Kinlin, owns Mr. K's Wine and Spirit on Boylston Street in Newton. The speaker's wife, Deborah, worked in the store until last year.

Retailers fear that if out-of-state wineries could make agreements with major outlets, many local liquor stores would be run out of business.

Kim Haberlin, DiMasi's press secretary, said the speaker looked at the state's conflict-of-interest laws and decided he was not required to recuse himself, because the bill deals very generally with an industry. ''But he wanted to exercise extreme caution and voted present," Haberlin said.

Haberlin and Pedone said DiMasi participated in scheduling the bill, and presided over a meeting in which Pedone presented it. The House also added a provision yesterday that would allow diners to take home an unfinished bottle of wine from a restaurant.

The restaurant would have to seal the bottle in a bag. Lawmakers argued that the change would discourage restaurant patrons from drinking too much before they drove home.

Material from the Associated Press was used in this report.