PA Liquor Control Board Loses Wine Shipping Legal Battle

PENNSYLVANIA — The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board must pay damages, lawyer fees, and interest after the Commonwealth Court ruled the regulatory agency prevented restaurants from getting direct shipments from special order wine companies.

MFW Wine Co. LLC and A6 Wine Company along with Bloomsday Café petitioned the court, claiming the PLCB did not allow direct shipments from the companies to restaurants and imposed handling fees on the wines.

A 2016 law gave the PLCB the option to establish a special order process.

But the court said the agency did not do so and in opposition of the law began issuing handling fees for special orders that purchasers had to collect from the agency rather than get the order shipped to them.

Another issue with the system arose when the state shut down its wine and spirits stores.

During that time, businesses were not able to collect their special orders from the state-owned and operated stores.

MFW and A6 decided to take action when they felt the squeeze during the pandemic's earlier days.

While final payments the PLCB must pay have not been set yet, attorney fees sought are $310,821.50 and damages sought are $109,432.02, according to the court.