Restrictions on Internet wine purchases in Indiana may soon be a thing of the past.
The Senate has given final approval to a bill repealing the requirement that buyers make one in-person purchase before ordering wine online or by mail.
The restriction would be lifted July 1 if Gov. Pence signs the measure.
Online and mail-order shoppers would still have to scan or fax an ID.
Jim Butler, owner of Bloomington’s Butler Winery, says he lost 90-percent of his shipping customers when the legislature added the requirement 10 years ago.
“And it also made it difficult to run a wine club because you really had two sets of customers. You had those who you had a face-to-face card signed and those that you didn’t,” Butler says.
Butler says he doesn‘t know how long it will take for the customer base to return to its old levels.
