For any wine-loving New Yorkers under the impression that “allow interstate wine shipments” means “allow interstate wine shipments,” Governor Pataki has news for you. Tomorrow a new law takes effect that will allow New Yorkers to partake of the mail-order wine the United States Supreme Court said in May is their constitutional right. But while the governor made headlines when he signed the law in July, what didn’t make headlines was the fact that the new bill caps at 36 the number of those shipments New Yorkers can order from any one winery in any one year.

This probably isn’t what Empire State oenophiles expected when they heard in May that the Supreme Court had struck down New York’s old prohibition on out-of-state wineries shipping their wares directly to consumers. In some respects, the new regime actually represents a step backward – previously, at least, consumers could buy unlimited quantities from in-state vineyards, even though they couldn’t buy anything at all from out-of-state sellers without going to a wine store.

The governor explains his insistence on a limit – he originally wanted to allow only 24 cases a year – by saying that this restriction will contribute to ensuring, in the words of his July press release, “the responsible shipment of wine to and from New York State.” “Responsible” in this debate has often meant limiting shipments to underage would-be buyers, and indeed the new law addresses this concern by requiring deliverymen to obtain signatures and check identification when dropping off the cases, for example.

How the numerical limit beefs up this already strict provision is a bit of a mystery, however. Far more compelling is the somewhat less charitable view that the governor is trying to protect in-state wineries – and, even more obviously and egregiously, wholesalers – from a flood of direct-from-the-winery out-of-state wine, but must limit previously unregulated in-state shipments to comply with the court’s ruling, which required equal treatment of all wineries when a state regulates such sales. Mr. Pataki didn’t go out of his way to make this argument when he finally signed the law, but sure enough, when he introduced his original, stricter version of the bill, he said his intent was to “help New York wineries.”

It could be worse. All things considered, New York’s rules are still fairly liberal compared to some other states that either impose stricter limits or completely ban mail-order sales. And, at an average of nine bottles a case, 36 cases a year, a winery can still add up to a lot of wine for most consumers. But betrothed New Yorkers with long wedding guest lists and corporate party-throwers will find themselves wondering why they have to ration their favorite vintages at their big shindigs. And all New Yorkers will wonder why a little bit of free trade is fine by the governor, but a lot of free trade isn’t.