Bootlegging Is Still A Thing In Texas Only Now It's Kinda Legal

East bound and down ... again. Bootleggers are alive and well these days and there's illegal wine flowing steadily into Texas.

Smokey and the Bandit needed a semi truck and a "speedy" black Trans Am to run their load. They wrecked cars, got beat up, snagged a reluctant bride, did zillions of dollars in damages and embarrassed the you know what out of Buford T Justice doing it. These days, it's a lot easier ...

Illegal wine is flooding Texas these days and it's legal wineries sending it over in an illegal fashion that's got the TABC's attention these days.

Any winery can send their vino our way, whenever they want, as long as they follow the rules and have all the right permits. Not all of 'em do though.

A new draft report conducted by the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission says that an estimated 56% of shipments from out-of-state wineries to Texas consumers in 2023 were illegal because the wineries either lacked the proper permit or they didn't accurately report the amount of wine they shipped. - Dallas News

Once all the permits are in place, tax rules abided by and necessary licenses obtained, wineries are good. They can even ship to dry counties. Still, apparently, a lot of wineries are cutting corners.

Heads up though bootleggers. The TABC is on to you and I wouldn't count on them being as stupid as Buford and his son were. With apologies to Jerry Reed:

east bound and down, loaded up and shipping
we're gonna sell what they say can't be sold
we got a lotta postage due and a short time to postmark
post office bound, just watch that 'ole mailman go