(Wines&Vines) - Some of the most important—if confusing—issues facing wine sellers are regulations about direct-to-consumer, social media and third-party sales channels, the subject of a session moderated by attorney John Trinidad at the Unified Wine & Grape Symposium.

Traditionally, wine has been sold primarily through the three-tier system, but the Internet has introduced a number of new players to this mix, including fulfillment, shipping, order processing, compliance and especially third-party marketers and providers. “The Internet allows consumers to bypass the three-tier system,” noted Trinidad, who practices wine law at Dickenson, Peatman & Fogarty in Napa, Calif.

Facebook faux pas

Likewise, the rise of social media has created issues: The TTB regards social media from a winery as advertising and burdens it with the same restrictions as print or broadcast ads. It can even evoke other laws, such as tied-house laws, which govern relations between wineries and resellers.

Trinidad cited an example: A “fan” posts a link on a winery’s Facebook page to an article praising its newest Chardonnay, but the same article calls a competitor’s Chardonnay “disappointing” and “flawed.” TTB rules prohibit negative comparisons in ads, so should the winery remove the link?

State by state

In a well-publicized case in California, a winery was cited for mentioning a wine fair at a retailer, a violation of laws that prohibit suppliers from providing something of value to resellers.

Another issue is the fast growth of companies that deliver wine on demand—primarily in larger cities.

All of these issues create uncertainty to wineries—and some people are even exploiting these uncertainties, like a Chicago lawyer suing wineries over Illinois’ unusual application of sales tax to shipping, or online retailers who may not be following the rules and could threaten licensed wineries.