Legal
A Somewhat Typical 'Three-Tier' State
Arizona has a �Prime Source� law that requires out-of-state suppliers to be licensed with the Arizona Department of Liquor Licenses & Control. This law also provides recourse should another source be made available without your permission. The simple, two page license application can be obtained at the address for the Arizona Department of Liquor Licenses and Control below.
There are no franchise laws for producers who sell less than 4000(? � something like that) cases per year and in practice, we have never heard of anyone invoking the law or any action between supplier and distributor, but we don�t really move in those circles.
Arizona is a C.O.D. state; we are not allowed to extend credit to any of our buyers. There are provisions for sampling wines with accounts and there is no regulation of incentives offered between suppliers and distributors. Providing collateral material of any utilitarian value (corkscrews, T-shirts, hats, ice buckets�.) to buyers/accounts is technically not legal. As you can imagine, this is largely ignored, however, we adhere to any and all liquor laws and we expect our suppliers to do the same.
Arizona did pass a felony direct shipping law in 1998 (ARS 4-250.01, B&C) and $150,000.00 fine but has since tweaked it to allow for LICENSED private shipment. Details can be found at www.azll.com.
