New Jersey’s alcoholic beverage control law violates the Commerce Clause by requiring out-of-state wineries to sell through wholesalers and retailers while New Jersey wineries have no such restrictions, the Third U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals says.

But the court’s Dec. 17 ruling in Freeman v. Corzine, 08-3268 and 08-3302, stopped short of overturning the state’s ban on direct shipments of wine to consumers.