Free the grapes

Are restrictive laws keeping grapes from traveling to your front door?

Wed, Mar 11 2009 at 10:39 PM EST

I’ve been educating myself about organic and biodynamic wines slowly, and part of that education is reading reviews. There are many wines out there I read about that I’d like to try, but I can’t. They aren’t available at any local stores, and I live in a state that has laws that make it very difficult for me to have wine shipped to me.

Yesterday, I came across a website that is working to get that changed in my state and in other states that have these prohibitive laws. Free the Grapes! is an informative and helpful site. It’s a “national, grassroots coalition of consumers, wineries and retailers who seek to remove restrictions on wine direct shipping.

Here’s what it has to offer for wine lovers who want to know about the shipping laws to their states.

An e-newsletter to keep you up to date on what is happening with the laws
A convenient form to contact your state legislators. If you’re state prohibits shipping, there are form letters that you can send to your representatives.
A Know Your State’s Laws map that helps you easily identify if your state does or does not allow wine shipped to it.
Hot Topics on the homepage that inform you if specific legislation is being put through your state at the moment.

If you live in a state that restricts the shipping of wine to residences, check out Free the Grapes! to see how you can have a hand in helping the grapes be free to travel to your front door.