Pinot Law

An interesting article here regarding a Federal Court’s decision to overturn the Commonwealth of Virginia’s decades-old ban on alcohol-related advertising in college newspapers. The Court concluded that the law violates the student publications’ right to free speech.

Virginia and Virginia Tech students had filed the suit, and the judge found no evidence that the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control rules actually curbed the behavior they were meant to address (i.e. underage drinking). I found this article particularly interesting as a Virginia winery, since our neighbor to the West — West Virginia — apparently has a rule on the books that no adult resident or duly licensed retailer or distributor may advertise the availability of wines by shipment to residents of West Virginia.

In other words, in Virginia it is OK to advertise to a market largely consisting of underage drinkers (i.e. college students), but in West Virginia it is illegal to advertise wine to anyone residing in the state. Makes a lot of sense . . .