Free the Grapes!

Free the Grapes! is a national grassroots coalition that seeks to remove bans and streamline restrictions in states that prevent consumers from purchasing wines directly from wineries. It was established in June 1998 by five wine industry associations, including Wine Institute, which together represent thousands of U.S wineries. A 501c(6) non-profit California trade association, Free the Grapes’ operations are funded exclusively by contributions from wineries and net income from the Direct to Consumer Wine Symposium, an annual conference.

The organization’s goal is to ensure consumer choice in wine. It advocates augmenting, not replacing, the three-tier system with limited, regulated direct-to-consumer shipments. Winery direct shipping is defined as wines shipped directly from a winery license holder to a consumer using a common carrier like FedEx or UPS. The so-called three-tier system, alternatively, is a sales channel in which wines are sold by wineries to wholesalers, then from wholesalers to retailers, and finally from retailers to consumers.

Consumers are driving changes in how products are bought and sold; they want and expect to be able to purchase wines they want in the manner of their choosing: online, by phone, through periodic winery club shipments, etc. The U.S. Supreme Court and Federal Trade Commission have supported the reasonable expansion of winery direct shipping and the majority of U.S. states enable winery-to-consumer shipping and, therefore, consumer choice in wine.

Rather than complementing a dynamic marketplace, some wholesaler middlemen are aggressively supporting state-sanctioned monopolies in wine distribution. Well-funded lobbying seeks to further restrict consumer choice by overturning proven direct shipping legislation, by requiring face-to-face transactions, by banning shipments based on a winery’s size, and other obstructions to free and fair trade.

Free the Grapes! believes that wholesaler middlemen can and should compete based on delivering service and value, not by creating laws and onerous restrictions that reduce consumer choice. The organization executes state-specific campaigns, including media outreach and consumer engagement tactics, to support favorable bills which help grow the DTC marketplace for wineries through legal, regulated direct to consumer shipments.