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1 0 V I N E YA R D & W I N E RY M A N A G E M E N T | J u l y - A u g 2 015 w w w. v w m m e d i a . c o m EDITOR'S DESK tute, I knew that the Supreme Court's decision was the hard-won result of years of lobbying by industry organiza- tions such as Wine Institute, WineAm- erica and Free the Grapes! In the early 1990s, I didn't think such a victory would happen in my lifetime. But at last, with the Granholm decision, the U.S. wine industry would break free from the chains of Prohibition! Indeed, many positive changes did take place in the decade to follow. Wineries can now ship to 42 states (plus Washington, D.C.) compared to only 26 states in 2005. Less-restric- tive shipping laws have made it easier for small and startup wineries to suc- ceed without distributor support, and the number of U.S. producers has nearly doubled since the Supreme Court ruling. Even wholesalers, who claimed that direct shipping would put a serious dent in their profits, are doing just fine. As utopian as that sounds, the ghost of Prohibition still haunts win- eries in the post-Granholm era. State- by-state permit requirements and capacity caps have kept America from becoming the open market that many in the industry had hoped for, and bat- tles are still being waged to lift winer- ies' regulatory burdens. It may take the industry another 10 years to chip away at the remaining barriers, but judging by the progress that's been made since 2005, it's only a matter of time. Salute! Americans didn't take to the streets in repeal-of-Prohibition-style jubilation when they heard about the decision in the Granholm v. Heald case, but many in the wine industry experienced a feeling of liberation nonetheless. The landmark Supreme Court ruling declared that if a state allowed winer- ies within its borders to ship directly to its residents, it would be required to allow out-of-state wineries to do the same. States then had a decision to make: Allow direct shipping by all U.S. wineries, or by none. While some did choose to ban direct-to-consumer ship- ping, depriving in-state win- eries of the opportunity to expand their markets, many more opened their borders to outside producers. If you were working in the U.S. wine industry on May 16, 2005, when the Granholm decision was announced, you know what a big deal it was. To wineries, it meant that they would be able to sell wine directly to consumers in dozens of new markets across the country. To distributors, it meant a potential decline in sales, as wineries gained the option to sidestep the three-tier system. To winery com- pliance experts, it meant having to track and comply with a whole new set of regulations. Having spent the first few years of my career working for the Wine Insti- Comments? Please e-mail us at feedback@vwmmedia.com. TINA CAPUTO EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Where were you when you heard the news?