31 October 2011

Texas Cracks Down on Internet Wine Sales

Texas Cracks Down on Internet Wine Sales

A Texas crackdown is under way on merchants who sell wine online without paying for proper permits and taxes.

The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission worked with FedEx and other shippers to identify incoming wine deliveries from companies that do not comply with state law.

“We sent them letters and asked them to cease and desist,” TABC Maj. Charlie Cloud said.

Texas alcoholic beverage sales operate under a three-tier system. Retailers must buy from licensed Texas wholesalers, which purchase from producers.

Licensed wineries are also allowed to sell directly to customers.

“What’s fair about some people obtaining their permit and doing it legally and other people not doing it legally? There’s nothing fair about that,” Cloud said.

La Cave Warehouse on Market Center Boulevard in Dallas has been selling wine to local customers for 34 years.

You might expect owners Francois and Anne Chandou to be pleased with the TABC crackdown on unlicensed competitors, but they said state laws protect wholesaler profits.

“They want Texas to be a captive audience to them,” Francois Chandou said.

The La Cave owners said customers would be better served if the system allowed people to purchase products anywhere, including from online, out of state merchants.

“They’re not necessarily getting away with something,” Anne Chandou said. “They’re shipping a product to a customer who wants that product and that customer should be entitled to get that product,” she said.

Wine.com is one of the companies contacted by the TABC.

The firm claims more than 30,000 Texas customers.

To comply with Texas law, Wine.com is planning to open a Houston warehouse where the company will buy from Texas wholesalers and serve Texas customers.

“We’re realistic about the current laws,” said Rich Bergsund, of Wine.com.

“If they’re going to play by the rules, we welcome them,” Cloud said.

Several other online wine sellers have stopped deliveries to Texas since the TABC investigation.

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