Mt. Hood Beverage Co. v. Constellation Brands, Inc.

These consolidated cases require us to determine whether chapter 19.126 RCW, insofar as it regulates the contractual rights and obligations of wine suppliers and distributors to one another, violates the dormant commerce clause by unfairly discriminating against out-of-state suppliers, and, if so, whether the twenty-first amendment to the United States Constitution prevents it from being struck down.

We affirm the superior courts in these cases and hold that the express exemption of in-state wine suppliers in chapter 19.126 RCW facially violates the dormant commerce clause because it protects…