A win for consumers on wine.

A federal judge in Manhattan ruled in November that the state of New York's law barring the shipment of wine from outside the state directly to consumers was unconstitutional. Consumer Alert participated in the case, Swedenburg vs. New York, by filing an amicus curiae, or friend of the court, brief arguing that the law was unfair to wine consumers in the state of New York, limiting consumer choice and driving up prices.

Consumer Alert got involved with the lawsuit hoping to restore the rights of wine tasters and wine makers in New York--and across the country. If other state courts follow suit, wine consumers, not meddling bureaucrats or protectionist wine wholesalers, will have the power to decide which Merlot best goes with their chicken parmesan.

Ms. Swedenburg owns a small winery in Virginia, but a number of wineries--and more importantly, New York wine consumers--were plaintiffs in the suit. The Institute for Justice, a public-interest law firm based in Washington, represented the plaintiffs. IJ argued that the commerce clause, granting the federal government rather than the states the right to regulate interstate commerce, made the New York law unconstitutional.

Also at issue was the First Amendment, as New York had made it illegal for out-of-state wineries to advertise and otherwise inform New York consumers about their wines.

In recent years, American consumers' growing demand for quality wine has fueled a great proliferation of small wineries and wine importers. Inherent limitations in the retail shelf space available in New York stores ensure that it is not possible for consumers to access all the brands of wine currently available. Mail order catalogs and, above all, the Internet, afford willing buyers and sellers an opportunity to bypass the distribution bottleneck of wholesalers and retailers. Yet New York's Alcoholic Beverages Law prohibits the shipment of wine to any person that does not hold a New York license and therefore restricts consumers to the selections of a shrinking group of wholesalers and artificially subjects consumer's choices to the shelf-space limitations of New York retailers.

In a December decision, Federal Judge Richard Berman declared the law prohibiting out-of-state shipments null and void. But he stayed his decision pending a possible appeal. If the state of New York and wine wholesalers in the state decide not to appeal, New York consumers will be free to choose from a wider selection of wines. If not, many will have to sit through another trial without the wine of their choice.