Current status of direct shipping in Texas

[hotwine]

Although it's now technically legal to order home delivery of wine in this state, no one is apparently doing it yet. Common carriers such as FedEx and UPS aren't accepting wines for shipment, because they've not received implementing instructions from the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission; and TABC is awaiting word from the state attorney general as to whether he will appeal the federal court ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court (he has a deadline of 24 Sep 03 to do that). So the bureaucrats are sucking their thumbs, hoping the whole issue will go away. Article in today's San Antonio Express-News tells the tale: http://news.mysanantonio.com/story.cfm?xla=saen&xlb=170&xlc=1035391

Temps have climbed into the upper 90's now anyway, so no one in his right mind would expose good wine to an enclosed, UNrefrigerated UPS/FedEx truck.

Which reminds me.... watched a couple of wholesaler's reps get out of a sedan at my favorite discounter's last week, and retrieve two bottles of (undoubtedly cooked) Chardonnay from the trunk... then march up to the door to present them to the manager. If he had seen what I saw, he'd have booted their a$$e$ off the property. My truck thermometer showed the ambient temp was 94F.