Direct shipment of wine will be legal in N.J. — not so Del. and Pa.

In response to a listener question about her report that New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has signed a bill allowing for direct shipment of wine, WHYY’s Jen Howard dug up some information on the situation in Pennsylvania and Delaware.

UPDATE: It appears Pennsylvania residents can have liquor shipped to them. The Inquirer reported this morning: “LCB last week rolled out the pilot program to the public. Now customers can select from a limited number of products, and for a fee, order alcohol online and have it shipped directly to them in three to five days.”

Earlier this week, WHYY’s Jen Howard reported that New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has signed a bill allowing for direct shipment of wine starting on May 1. Wineries in New Jersey can now ship to any of the 38 other states that allow direct shipping. Those states can also ship to New Jersey customers.

After hearing the news presented by Dave Heller on WHYY-FM, NewsWorks reader Denise Fike wrote to us asking about the situation in Pennsylvania:

“Mr. Heller said that PA customers can not receive direct wine shipments, yet, my newsletter from State Senator Farnese states otherwise. the new law allows direct shipment. do you know something we don’t?”

Howard dug a little deeper into Pennsylvania and Delaware and came back with this:

“According to the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board, consumers can purchase wine over the Internet, but it must be delivered to a state liquor store, not to their homes. And consumers can’t get just any wine: The winery must be licensed by the PLCB, and the wine must not already be available through a state store.

“In Delaware, direct shipment of wine is also illegal. But there is one exception: A Delaware resident who visits a winery may have wine shipped home.”