A licensed winery can. A private sender cannot. Texas lets an out-of-state winery ship wine directly to a Texas consumer only after buying a specific state permit and only through a carrier that also holds a state permit, with hard caps of nine gallons a month and 36 gallons a year per household. TABC's rules, read 2026-08-11.
Four links. Any one broken and the box is illegal to move.
Texas is one of the states that operates a positive-permission regime for direct-to-consumer wine. A shipper who does not appear on the TABC's approved list is a shipper the state treats as illegal, regardless of what the origin state permits.
| Sender | Permitted? | Under what |
|---|---|---|
| A private person sending a gift or a marketplace sale | No | No permit path exists for individuals |
| A retailer or wine club that is not the producer | No | Direct-to-consumer is limited to wineries producing the wine |
| An out-of-state winery holding a Texas DS permit | Yes | Out-of-State Winery Direct Shipper's Permit, $470, valid two years |
| The delivering carrier | Must itself be permitted | Texas Carrier's Permit; adult signature at delivery |
The eligibility side has one further gate. An applicant cannot hold a Texas Winery Permit at the same time and cannot have a direct or indirect financial interest in a Texas wholesaler or retailer.
TABC writes the volume rules per Texas consumer, not per shipment. The permit holder is expected to track them and refuse the order that would breach either.
Roughly 45 standard 750 ml bottles, or the contents of nearly four cases, to any one Texas consumer in any calendar month. A three-case order in one week and a two-case order the next stays inside the cap; a four-case order the week after does not.
About 180 standard bottles over any 12-month window, rolling. A permit holder that ships to the same subscriber every month will approach that ceiling by month nine.
The carrier must obtain a signature at delivery from the purchaser, a pre-designated recipient, or a person 21 or older at the address who has presented a valid ID. No signature, no delivery.
A shipment that fails the cap check is not automatically cancelled at the carrier; the responsibility to refuse the order sits with the winery, and the enforcement penalty falls on the permit.
Texas requires the carrier to hold its own permit before it can move wine to a consumer inside the state. That is why a private sender walking into a store with a bottle of wine cannot buy a label to a Texas address: the carrier is not permitted to accept it from an unpermitted origin, and the accepting shipper is not on the TABC's list either. On the delivering end the carrier collects the signature described above and returns a delivery record; the permit holder keeps it with the shipment file.
The state does not publish a general dry-area rule as part of the DS program; local wet-and-dry status is enforced through the retailer and wholesaler tiers, not through direct-to-consumer wine. Local considerations for a specific address are worth checking with TABC when in doubt.
A permit holder pays Texas sales tax and Texas excise tax on wine delivered to Texas addresses and files an excise report every reporting period, including any period with zero shipments. TABC expects complete sales and delivery records to be retained for five years. A missed report or a late one is what invites the audit; the audit is what ends a permit.
A working shipment file usually keeps four things together per order: the purchaser ID and 21-plus verification, the order and volume detail against the monthly and annual cap, the carrier's signed delivery record, and the tax posting for the period. If the auditor cannot reconstruct one order in five minutes, the file needs work.
TABC updates the DS permit rules through the administrative code and the agency's own guidance. The figures above are what those sources published on the date shown; a wine program that ships nationally should read the current text before opening a Texas file.
No. Texas allows direct wine shipments only from a winery that holds the state's Out-of-State Winery Direct Shipper's Permit. A private person cannot legally hand a bottle to a common carrier for delivery inside Texas.
Nine gallons in any calendar month and 36 gallons in any 12-month period, per consumer. TABC counts every shipment against those two caps and expects the permit holder to enforce them.
Yes. Delivery must be to the purchaser, a pre-designated recipient, or a person at the address who is 21 or older, and the recipient signs after presenting a valid ID. The carrier must hold a Texas Carrier's Permit.
The Out-of-State Winery Direct Shipper's Permit costs $470 and is valid for two years. The applicant cannot hold a Texas Winery Permit or have a financial interest in a Texas wholesaler or retailer.
Yes. Permit holders pay both sales tax and Texas excise tax and file an excise report every reporting period, even a period with no shipments. Sales records go back five years.