(Philly) - The lawyer who peddled fine wines from his Main Line home made out with probation and community service.

His wine might not fare as well.

Police want to destroy the 2,426 bottles they seized in January from Arthur Goldman's Malvern home, the typical fate for bootleg booze.

But this collection is not a typical bounty.

It's far more valuable.

Goldman is fighting to keep it, and wine enthusiasts say the thought of its being dumped is hard to swallow, an example of how Pennsylvania's antiquated liquor laws frustrate connoisseurs and seed a black market for alcohol unavailable in state stores.

"It's not like we're talking about cocaine or heroin here," said Tom Wark, executive director for the American Wine Consumer Coalition. "We're talking about a Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon from the 2012 vintage."

Pennsylvania's liquor laws are among the strictest nationwide - and the least kind to wine lovers. Pennsylvania is one of 10 states that ban wineries from shipping directly to customers and one of two, Utah being the other, where the government has complete control over the sale of liquor and wine. Supporters of privatization have pushed the issue for years to no avail.

Goldman, a 50-year-old lawyer with a practice in Paoli, was charged with breaking Internet wine-sales laws and illegally reselling his purchases.

On an e-mail list, Goldman kept about 20 people apprised of his offerings. One of his potential buyers was an undercover police officer. The wines he had in stock and could order, most unavailable in the state, were detailed on a 97-page list.

Police said officers made several undercover buys, including at Goldman's home, where he showed them a wine cellar under construction, with floor-to-ceiling racks flanking a stone island. About 90 boxes of wine were stacked on the floor, police said.

Officials seized all of it - estimated to be worth at least $125,000 - and charged Goldman with misdemeanors of illegally selling, purchasing, and possessing or transporting liquor. A prosecutor at the Chester County District Attorney's Office at the time described it as a "highly organized, high-volume illegal business operation to make money."