IU professor prosecutes case in favor of wine connoisseurs

A U.S. Supreme Court decision Monday could potentially make it easier for Indiana wine connoisseurs to buy their favorite drink directly from out-of-state wineries, thanks in part to an IU professor. \nAccording to Indiana law, it is a felony for an out-of-state winery to sell their product directly to the consumer because the wine must first go to a wholesaler. But the Supreme Court decision held a similar law in both the state of Michigan and New York was unconstitutional. \nThis lawsuit all stemmed from one man's belief that this industry practice was not fair to the consumer. In 1998 Russ Bridenbaugh, a local wine critic and consultant, felt the law passed by the Indiana General Assembly that made it illegal for an out-of-state winery to sell directly to the consumer was not the best idea in the world. \nBridenbaugh enlisted the help of his friend, Alex Tanford, an IU law professor, to prosecute the case.\n"That's when I decided to sue Indiana on constitutional grounds because it definitely violates the commerce clause (of the U.S. Constitution)," he said. "I went to my friend Alex ... and said 'I want to sue the state of Indiana' and he said 'OK.'"\nBesides Tanford, Robert Epstein was also brought on as counsel. The men took their suit to the Federal District Court in South Bend and won. The State of Indiana appealed to the U.S. 7th Circuit Court, where the state won. Bridenbaugh and his lawyers attempted to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court but the court denied the appeal, thus exhausting all options. However, this did not stop the idea. Several other lawsuits were brought in other states and argued by Tanford. \n"Indiana permits in-state wineries to sell and deliver wine directly to consumers and restaurants without going through a wholesaler," Tanford said. "That special treatment is now presumptively unconstitutional, and Indiana will have to decide whether to open its market to out-of-state wines, or close down its in-state wineries."\nAccording to research Tanford has done on the wine industry there are approximately 3,000 wineries in the U.S. that produce and sell wine, with the top 50 producers accounting for 90 percent of all the wine shipped and sold within the U.S. The producers range from producing 60,000,000 cases of wine each year to small wineries producing fewer than 1,000 cases a year. \nThis was the first time Tanford has argued a case in front of the U.S. Supreme Court and said the aura surrounding the court was different than he expected. \n"It was much more fun than I expected," he said. "The atmosphere was not formal and intimidating, but was warm and light-hearted. The Justices cracked several jokes during argument. Still, it is intimidating to turn around and see 200 people crammed into the small courtroom"