Wineries holding a Maine Direct Shipper of Wine License may have recently received correspondence from the ME Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) urging them to either comply with the DEP’s new recycling requirements right away or cancel their license. The California Wine Institute met with the agencies involved and confirmed that neither the ME Bureau of Alcoholic Beverage & Lottery Operations (BABLO) nor the DEP will take action against DTC licensees that have not fulfilled the recycling requirements, as long as they do not ship to Maine consumers. For holders of a ME DTC license, we recommend keeping the license in place, but not shipping direct to consumers in ME until the issues are worked out. The DEP has acknowledged the problems and is currently working on several possible proposals to potentially ease the requirements in 2026. The DEP is also seeking public comment, and has posted information on how to comment on their recycling program on this webpage. We

Starting July 1, 2025, wine bottles shipped DTC to Maine consumers will be covered by Maine’s recycling program. Previously, wine sold at wholesale has been subject to the recycling requirements, but wine shipped DTC has been exempt. To continue shipping DTC to Maine beyond July 1, wineries will need to comply with the requirements of that program.  A law passed in 2023 required this change, but the implications for DTC shippers were uncertain. On June 4, 2025, the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) issued a memo explaining the program and its requirements for DTC shippers. We’ve summarized them briefly below. In order to continue to ship DTC to Maine after July 1, wineries must become the responsible party for recycling requirements by registering as an Initiator of Deposit (IOD). To become an IOD, wineries need to obtain a license from the ME DEP. The annual fee for wineries producing no more than 50,000 gallons a year is $50. The annual fee for wine

Three states have added fulfillment house requirements for DTC shippers this year, bringing the total number of states with these requirements to sixteen. The requirements vary. Some states have established licenses or registrations for fulfillment houses; others require specific reports and/or records from the services; another group simply requires DTC shippers to inform them what fulfillment service they use. Here are the new requirements for Maine, Nevada and Wisconsin for DTC shippers: A new law in Maine requires fulfillment providers to register each address from which they ship with the ME Bureau of Alcohol Beverages and Lottery Operations (BABLO). The law also mandates quarterly reporting of wine shipments by direct shippers, fulfillment providers, and common carriers beginning January 1, 2025. The agency only recently began accepting registration applications when its new online licensing system BELLS went live on October 28. Going forward, wineries shipping to consumers in Ma

There’s good news for alcoholic beverage suppliers shipping to Maine wholesalers or consumers who have been struggling with the state’s ownership disclosure requirements. The Maine legislature has passed LD 2069, a bill amending a provision in the state’s licensing law that has been a problem for suppliers as well as the regulators charged with enforcing the requirements. Early in 2023 Maine’s alcohol regulatory agency re-interpreted the state’s licensing law and began requiring 100% disclosure of a company’s ownership before approving a new license or renewing an existing one. Personal data had to be provided for every owner, in the entire ownership chain, no matter how small their interest. Some companies found it impossible to comply with this stricter interpretation and were unable to renew their ME licenses. They have been able to continue shipping to their Maine customers only by periodically requesting and obtaining temporary extensions