Wineries selling direct to consumers is growing trend in the US

Wineries in the US are expecting to ship US $3 billion of wine directly to consumers in 2018, accounting for 10% of wine drunk at home.

The US is well known for its protectionist laws and shipping wine inter-state has in the past been a legal nightmare. But over time states have opened their markets and ways of avoiding some of the problems have developed. Now the US is catching up on other developed countries with wineries now selling material volume to consumers out of state. California makes up 30% of the direct-to-consumers (DTC) market, while Texas was the second most important and New York the third.

Pennsylvania opened up its market for DTC wine in 2016, and with only a few remaining states still resisting the move, Oklahoma is set to open its doors in October 2018.