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New state laws governing the alcoholic beverage industry go into effect frequently. Unless you happen to see a public announcement, how do you find out about these changes, and whether they impact the way you do business in the state?

The Digest of Wine & Spirits Law makes it easy. The Digest is updated throughout the year, as laws change. A public listing of recent updates is available on The Digest’s home page. From there, subscribers can view the updated article, marked up to show the changes. Watch Corky, The Digest’s animated assistant, demonstrate how this works.

Subscribe to The Digest of Wine & Spirits Law to take advantage of its many powerful features that make it an indispensable research tool for industry professionals.

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California has generated considerable excitement in the industry by offering a DTC permit allowing craft distillers across the country to ship their products directly to consumers in California, one of the country's largest retail markets.

Since COVID, California craft distillers have had a temporary direct shipping privilege, which ends 12/31/2025. California’s new Type 94 Direct Shipper Permit will allow spirits direct shipping for both in-state and out-of-state craft distillers. CA ABC will accept applications starting December 15, 2025, and will issue permits effective January 1, 2026.

Here's what craft distillers need to know about this new permit; those located outside of California should consider these requirements before jumping on this opportunity:

• The permit is only available to distillers producing 150,000 gallons or less per year, of which sixty-five percent (65%) must be of their own production.
• The permit will expire on 12/31/2026 and cannot be renewed unless the California legislature extends the authorization for the permit.
• Spirits containers sold to California customers must comply with California's bottle bill, which requires the distiller to label bottles appropriately and to register with CalRecycle to collect and remit deposits and other fees.
• California's Proposition 65 requires sellers of alcoholic beverages directly to consumers to give the various Proposition 65 health warnings on websites, order pages and in shipping boxes.
• Distillers must register with the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration to report and pay excise taxes on the spirits shipped. If the distiller has economic or physical nexus, sales taxes must also be collected and paid.
• Out-of-state distillers must register with the California Secretary of State, which requires payment of filing fees and appointment of an agent for service of process.
• Registration with the Secretary of State may have franchise tax implications. Applicants should consult their tax advisor for guidance.

California's one year trial authorization of this permit, if successful, may encourage other states to issue their own direct-to-consumer shipping permits for spirits.

Want to see more like this? Subscribers to The Digest of Wine & Spirits Law have easy access to important updates like this. The Digest also provides citations to the relevant state laws and regulations.

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The California legislature recently amended the California recycling labeling requirements for wine and spirits containers, making it significantly easier for wineries and distilleries to comply. The new law, AB 720, extended the deadlines for complying with the labeling requirements and authorized the use of QR codes for CRV compliance. Here are the specifics:

• The deadline by when all wine and spirits containers in the marketplace must have CRV labeling has been extended a year, from July 1, 2025 to July 1, 2026.
• The cut-off date for the permanent exemption of already labeled containers from CRV requirements has been extended 18 months, from January 1, 2024 to July 1, 2025. Now, any containers filled and labeled without CRV markings before July 1, 2025 will not need any additional labeling to be compliant, even if sold after July 1, 2026.
• Wineries and distilleries may now use half-inch high QR codes for CRV compliance. This creates an important precedent for other states to follow. We expect that QR codes will increasingly ease the compliance burden for recycling labeling as more states adopt the use of QR codes.

Subscribers to The Digest of Wine & Spirits Law have easy access to important updates like these. The Digest contains citations to the relevant state regulation.

For a demonstration of The Digest, view the video, or contact us to schedule a live screen-share demo. Visit our website or give us a call: 800-400-1353.

Wineries holding a Maine Direct Shipper of Wine License may have recently received correspondence from the ME Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) urging them to either comply with the DEP’s new recycling requirements right away or cancel their license.

The California Wine Institute met with the agencies involved and confirmed that neither the ME Bureau of Alcoholic Beverage & Lottery Operations (BABLO) nor the DEP will take action against DTC licensees that have not fulfilled the recycling requirements, as long as they do not ship to Maine consumers.

For holders of a ME DTC license, we recommend keeping the license in place, but not shipping direct to consumers in ME until the issues are worked out.

The DEP has acknowledged the problems and is currently working on several possible proposals to potentially ease the requirements in 2026. The DEP is also seeking public comment, and has posted information on how to comment on their recycling program on this webpage.

We will continue to monitor the evolving developments and will make further announcements once changes are implemented.

Subscribers to The Digest of Wine & Spirits Law have easy access to important state updates, which include citations to relevant regulations.

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DTC product registrations are now available via Product Registration Online (PRO) for those holding the new Arkansas Wine Direct Shipping Permit. Please note: if PRO requires selecting a wholesaler during the registration process, the license is not being recognized as a DTC license. This can be corrected by AR ABC’s staff. Email them using the contact information provided in PRO.

Subscribers to The Digest of Wine & Spirits Law have easy access to important state updates, which include citations to relevant regulations.

For a demonstration of The Digest, view the video, or contact us to schedule a live screen-share demo. Visit our website or give us a call: 800-400-1353.

So far this year three additional states—Arkansas, Mississippi, and most recently Delaware—have approved the issuance of licenses allowing DTC wine sales. Here is a brief overview of these new licenses:

Arkansas
The new Arkansas Wine Direct Shipping Permit went into effect on August 5, 2025. Older AR Wine Shipping Permits were automatically converted to the new permit type on that date without requiring any application or additional fees.

Registration of labels to be shipped DTC is required via Product Registration Online (PRO) before shipping can commence under the new permit. Any labels that are registered for sales at wholesale in AR are considered also registered for DTC. However, at the time of this posting, the PRO system does not allow DTC-only product registrations to be completed. We are monitoring the status and will post an update once DTC label registrations can be successfully submitted.

Mississippi
The MS Alcoholic Beverage Control is now issuing the new Direct Wine Shipper Permit.

Applicants for the new permit should keep in mind that products distributed through the MS control system as “bailment items” (regularly listed products owned by suppliers and stored in the ABC warehouse) may not be sold and shipped DTC unless designated as “highly allocated.” A listing of all wines offered by the MS ABC, including those currently designated as “highly allocated,” can be downloaded from a link on the MS Direct Wine Shipper Permit webpage.

Products available through the control system only by special order (those not stored in the ABC warehouse) are eligible to be shipped directly to MS consumers.

Delaware
A new Delaware DTC law will go into effect on August 15, 2026. We hope adjustments will be made to the requirements before the license becomes available because the current law is restrictive. For example:

• The biennial license fee is $400 for shipping up to 200 cases annually; for shipping over 200 cases, the biennial fee jumps to $3,600. The maximum annual volume that can be shipped under the new license is 1,800 cases.
• No more than 3 cases per year may be shipped to any one address.
• Wineries that distribute via wholesale in Delaware are disqualified from holding this license.
• Only out-of-state wineries that would qualify as a "farm winery” under Delaware’s definition are eligible for the license.

Subscribers to The Digest of Wine & Spirits Law have easy access to important updates like these. The Digest contains citations to the relevant state regulation.

For a demonstration of The Digest, view the video, or contact us to schedule a live screen-share demo. Visit our website or give us a call: 800-400-1353.

The Mississippi ABC is now accepting applications for its new Direct Wine Shipper’s Permit.

In addition to the requirements listed in our earlier post, applicants must also register for a use tax account with the MS Department of Revenue before applying for the DTC permit. Both applications are submitted online in MS TAP.

The process does not require registration with the MS Secretary of State, nor submission of a tax bond. However, companies located outside of Mississippi that derive income from Mississippi may be subject to income or franchise taxes, even if they are not registered with the MS Secretary of State. We recommend that wineries considering this permit consult their tax advisor.

The MS ABC has clarified what products may legally be shipped directly to MS consumers under the Direct Wine Shipper’s Permit. Products distributed through the MS control system as “bailment items” (regularly listed products owned by suppliers and stored in the ABC warehouse) may not be sold and shipped DTC. However, products available through the control system only by special order (those not stored in the ABC warehouse) are allowed to be shipped directly to MS consumers.

Subscribers to The Digest of Wine & Spirits Law have easy access to important updates like these. The Digest contains the citation to the relevant state regulation.

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Starting July 1, 2025, wine bottles shipped DTC to Maine consumers will be covered by Maine’s recycling program. Previously, wine sold at wholesale has been subject to the recycling requirements, but wine shipped DTC has been exempt. To continue shipping DTC to Maine beyond July 1, wineries will need to comply with the requirements of that program. 

A law passed in 2023 required this change, but the implications for DTC shippers were uncertain. On June 4, 2025, the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) issued a memo explaining the program and its requirements for DTC shippers. We’ve summarized them briefly below.

In order to continue to ship DTC to Maine after July 1, wineries must become the responsible party for recycling requirements by registering as an Initiator of Deposit (IOD). To become an IOD, wineries need to obtain a license from the ME DEP. The annual fee for wineries producing no more than 50,000 gallons a year is $50. The annual fee for wineries producing more than 50,000 gallons is $500. 

In addition, wineries must join an existing “commingling group.”  Commingling groups are in-state organizations responsible for handling the bottles once a consumer redeems their deposit and puts the bottle into the recycling stream. The commingling group may charge fees for both membership and collection. 

As the IOD, DTC shippers will be responsible for labeling their bottles with the ME redemption value (15¢ for wine bottles), registering their labels with ME DEP, collecting the deposit from Maine purchasers, and reporting and remitting the deposits collected. 

Wineries that sell and ship both DTC and wholesale need to carefully consider the program requirements. Currently, the ME wholesaler is the IOD for wine shipped wholesale into Maine and handles all of the recycling program requirements (labeling, registration, membership in the commingling group, collection of deposits and reporting). However, the DEP system only allows a single IOD for each label; these responsibilities will shift to the winery after July 1 if it continues to sell in both channels. A winery shipping any label both DTC and wholesale will become responsible for meeting the recycling requirements for both its wholesale shipments and its DTC shipments of that label.

Subscribers to The Digest of Wine & Spirits Law have easy access to important updates like these. The Digest contains the citation to the relevant state regulation.

For a demonstration of The Digest, view the video, or contact us to schedule a live screen-share demo. Visit our website or give us a call: 800-400-1353.