So here’s the scenario… Let’s say that you’re a wine collector with a collection of roughly 500 bottles. You’re moving from California to Tennessee, and obviously did not want to leave a lifetime’s worth in investment behind. Some of the wine in your collection is worth almost $500 a bottle, and your intent was to leave the wine as part of your children’s inheritance when you die.

Tennessee laws prohibit the intrastate (and interstate) transport of alcohol in quantities greater than 3 gallons except by common carrier. It’s actually a felony to transport anything greater than that. Tennessee also prohibits direct shipment of wine to an individual or retailer. It has to go through a wholesaler, from another wholesaler or winery in another state, then ultimately needs to be delivered to a retailer before it gets to you. What’s more, Tennessee tax laws require that there is an existing brand registration for any wine that you are actually able to ship this way. This means that if you have some really old or obscure wine that does not have a registration with the State of Tennessee, you’re risking a felony arrest by even shipping non-registered wine from one wholesaler to another!

These same prohibition era laws also prevent Tennesseans from purchasing wine online, through the mail, or over the phone. I’ve wanted to make purchases from wine.woot.com on several occasions, but have not been able to because of the antiquated (1955) restrictions that my state places on me as an adult.

So in the scenario above, our avid wine collector would not be able to transport his wine with him when he moved without risking confiscation of his collection and felony arrest. As an alternative, if he chose to ship his collection via a common carrier, he would definitely have to pay the shipping, probably the wholesaler in California, the wholesaler in Tennessee, the retailer in Tennessee… and if the wine that he was shipping did not have a brand registration with the TN dept of revenue… you’re out of luck anyhow because the wholesaler in Tennessee would not be able to receive it.

Sounds a bit like a cartel, doesn’t it?

When I contacted the State of Tennessee Alcoholic Beverage Commission, one guy I spoke with said ‘why don’t you just throw a big party before moving?’. Now that’s class.

I’ve contacted my local legislator through a site called ‘Free The Grapes’, and if you are in Tennessee, or another equally prohibitive state like it… I’d suggest you do the same!