LEX VINI

A Bridge too Far for Granholm? Florida Importer Challenges California Three-Tier System

A Florida-based wine  importer is hoping to shake up the California three-tier system.  If successful, any importer or wholesaler in the U.S. may be permitted to sell directly to California retailers.

Earlier this year, Orion Wine Imports, LLC filed a lawsuit against the director of the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control arguing that licensed wine importers and wholesalers in California and in other states must be given the same right to sell and deliver wine directly to California-licensed retailers.  Orion Wine Imports, LLC v. Applesmith, Case No. 2:18-cv-01721-KJM-DB (E.D. Cal.).  Orion argues that, under the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Granholm v. Heald, state laws that discriminate against out-of-state importers and wholesalers are unconstitutional.

This argument may sound familiar.  In Granholm, the Court invalidated state direct-to-consumer shipping laws that discriminated against out-of-state producers.  Since then, a number of lawsuits have been filed arguing that the Granholm holding should also apply to laws that discriminate against out-of-state retailers.  As we reported a few weeks ago, the Supreme Court will be hearing a case that may answer that question.

Defendant in the Orion case is likely to argue that applying Granholm to the wholesale tier is a bridge too far.  Plaintiff’s are looking to invalidate long-standing provisions of the state’s three-tier licensing structure. The challenged statutes, adopted by the California legislature in 1953 as part of the state’s post-Prohibition codification of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Act, are core to the establishment of the state’s three-tier system.

Orion is also facing opposition from its fellow wholesalers.  Two industry trade associations, California Beer and Beverage Distributors and the Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of California, have filed an amicus brief in support of defendant’s position.

The court has scheduled a December 21, 2018 hearing in Sacramento on defendant’s motion to dismiss.

For more information regarding the three-tier system, please contact John Trinidad.