If you're a member of an out-of-state wine club or shop online from an out-of-state wine retailer, you have a few days left to place an order. So make it count. HB 429 and SB 123, signed into law last fall by Governor Sound Byte, goes into effect Sunday (for previous Chicagoist coverage on HB 429, here is a link to the respective posts). The legislation allows for customers to buy wine directly from a......

Yesterday the Illinois House approved legislation regarding how customers will be able to buy their wine. It's a story we've been keeping tabs on here at Chicagoist for a while. Supporters of the bill champion HB 429 as a victory for Illinois consumers. They claim that the uniform 12-case limit shared by in- and out-of-state wineries, and the establishment of a permit system allowing smaller out-of-state wineries to sell their product directly to retailers,......

About six weeks back Chicagoist weighed in on the brewing David-and-Goliath battle between the state's major beer and spirits distributors and the growing Illinois wine industry regarding banning direct mail, phone, and internet sales of wine to customers. The distributors lobbied for legislation that would have made it impossible for the vineyards to directly sell their product to customers. The vineyards countered with legislation that not only would have protected their already meager abilities for......