Illinois booze distributors are trying to keep people from buying wine directly from wineries. They are using the standard "stopping underage sales" excuse for their law. This is, of course, a bunch of crap. They just want their 50% markup on the wine they distribute. These laws absolutely kill small wineries that the distributors will not stock.
This is not about Illinois wineries. This is about stopping people from getting expensive (and high distributor margin) wine shipped to them from California. Why else would there be a 2 case limit per winery per year? That is also why there is an in-person initial sale requirement.
So please call your senator down in Springfield and try to get this stopped. Since they have probably paid Blago off, he'll probably sign it if it gets to his desk.
Hat Tip: Volokh
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