Buying Wine/Mead online

[chiguire]

So I am curious...

I thought that in order to buy alcohol online you had to have it shipped to a local liquor store..

But I see all these online wine stores, mailing lists for wineclubs etc etc.

Can you get wine/mead shipped to your house, and if so, what are the restrictions/requirements?

Thanks.

 

[mesquite]

winebuys.com states that they ship to AZ street addresses for phone or internet orders.

 

[wayneb]

The laws for receiving shipped orders of wine/beer used to vary quite a bit by state, and indeed there was a time where many states restricted the interstate shipment of products severely (having to have your order shipped to a retailer or distributor was one of the tactics). That was done primarily to keep the local distribution networks (and their state lobbyists) happy, since obviously if you couldn't easily buy wine or beer mailorder, you would be forced to deal with the local distribution chain.

These days many states have repealed those kinds of restrictions, but there are a few holdouts where you can't freely order product from other states unless "reciprocity agreements" are in place between the two states. I guess the idea there is to ensure that some shipments take place in both directions, so both states get a piece of the deal.

The erosion of individual states' protective trade restrictions has not gone unopposed by the various alcoholic beverage lobbies, which have escalated the fight to the federal level here in the US, by convincing some members of Congress to support HR 5034, the "CARE" bill. CARE stands for Comprehensive Alcohol Regulatory Effectiveness, and it is a thinly veiled attempt to couch the restriction of trade as a "States Rights" issue. IMHO, that's hogwash. The real intent of the bill is to allow those alcohol distributor lobbies in the various states to put even tighter controls on interstate commerce in alcoholic beverages, benefitting nobody but the lobbyists, and the big corporate producer and distributor firms that they represent.

 

[crowquill]

Free the Grapes has good information on HR 5034 and related topics.

I haven't bought any mead online but I buy a lot of wine from wine.woot.

 

[mmclean]

I live in a "dry" county. I can only buy wine onsite at the winery. Otherwise it's beer only.

No shipped orders.

No mead. :sad5:

 

[chiguire]

Thanks, all, for the info. Thanks, Wayneb, for the detailed information, it was exactly what I was looking for.

I live in a "dry" county. I can only buy wine onsite at the winery. Otherwise it's beer only.

No shipped orders.

No mead. :sad5:

I have never even heard of this!!!?? Is this a vestige of prohibition?

 

[mmclean]

No, but Tennessee does lie within the Bible belt.

Remember, Jack Daniels is made in a dry county. Tour the brewery and at the end you get a glass of JD lemon-aid, but no wiskey can be sold within the county line.

 

[chiguire]

No, but Tennessee does lie within the Bible belt.

Remember, Jack Daniels is made in a dry county. Tour the brewery and at the end you get a glass of JD lemon-aid, but no wiskey can be sold within the county line.

That is rough. My head bows to you in sympathy.

 

[mmclean]

Well I'm only a 45 min. drive from the nearest liquor store.

 

[Brad Dahlhofer]

I live in a "dry" county. I can only buy wine onsite at the winery. Otherwise it's beer only.

No shipped orders.

No mead. :sad5:

I would still give winebuys.com a try. You never know. And they're honest people. They won't take your money if they can't (read: won't) ship to you.

It's a secret to everybody.

 

[andrewschwab]

Here is a place you can purchase some meads from soon. Our local homebrew store has added beer and meads..

http://www.mainbrew.com/pastnewsletters/2010fall.pdf

 

[coffeeman885]

I have never even heard of this!!!?? Is this a vestige of prohibition?

I am originally from MS. The county I lived in was dry-dry. We had to drive to the next county to buy beer. Of course there were stores that were literally on the county line. When I lived in a wet county down there, last call was 12am and alcohol couldn't be sold on sundays. This sucked when I was a cook because we would want to drink after work but since we would usually get out after midnight we would end up stealing booze from the bar. We always replaced it but the chef would yell at us none the less. It was kind of a tradition.

The south is pretty much another country.

 

[PitBull]

Almost as bad.

I live in a "dry" county. I can only buy wine onsite at the winery. Otherwise it's beer only.

No shipped orders.

No mead. :sad5:

In Pennsylvania, one can only buy wine and hard liquor through state controlled stores. No outside sources are allowed unless they are officially "affiliated" with the PA state stores. That means none of the great on-line wine club deals are available to us. And any offer from affiliated clubs means greatly inflated prices.

Bummer.

 

[coffeeman885]

In Pennsylvania, one can only buy wine and hard liquor through state controlled stores. No outside sources are allowed unless they are officially "affiliated" with the PA state stores. That means none of the great on-line wine club deals are available to us. And any offer from affiliated clubs means greatly inflated prices.

Bummer.

MD is kinda like that but at least when I lived there I could get beer and liquor at the same store. PA and their beer stores kills me. The first time I went up there I had a hard time wrapping my head around it. VA is awesome in that respect. I can get beer & wine at pretty much any gas station if I wanted to. They do have Gov controlled ABC stores though. We can order wine online too, which I have missed for a few years.

 

[PitBull]

It kinda kills us too!

PA and their beer stores kills me. The first time I went up there I had a hard time wrapping my head around it. VA is awesome in that respect. I can get beer & wine at pretty much any gas station if I wanted to.

Cases and kegs must be purchased at a licensed "beer distributor". Beer distributor's cannot sell smaller quantities such as 6-packs or individual quarts or 40's. If one wishes to buy a smaller quantity, or to buy beer on Sundays, they must go to a "bottle shop" or to a restaurant with liquor license. However, the limit at these places is 144 fluid ounces. That means a maximum of two 12-ounce six-packs. If you want a six-pack of pounders, you can only get one at a time. If you want more than the limit, you must walk out of the store, and then immediately re-enter and purchase up to another 144 ounces. You may leave and re-enter as many times as you want to.

Crazy!

The only place more bizarre is Utah. There, you can buy 3.2% ABW (4.0% ABV) beer in the supermarkets, but if you want "real" beer, you must go to a state controlled liquor store. You can by beer buy the individual bottle in these state stores. Even Utah's brewpubs are limited to 3.2% beer.

 

[Chevette Girl]

In Ontario I think you can have Ontario wine shipped directly to you, but as for going out and buying anything alcoholic, unless you go to a brewery or winery you're pretty much stuck buying alcohol from the LCBO or Beer Store, although a number of grocery stores now have province-approved wine store add-ons (has its own hours, its own employees and can be locked separately from the rest of the store). And in the next province over (Quebec), you can get your beer at the depanneur (corner store). I've never been to the rest of the country so I dunno how it works out elsewhere...

 

[samson smith]

So I am curious...

I thought that in order to buy alcohol online you had to have it shipped to a local liquor store..

But I see all these online wine stores, mailing lists for wineclubs etc etc.

Can you get wine/mead shipped to your house, and if so, what are the restrictions/requirements?

Thanks.

The biggest advantage of shopping online wine is you get to comparison shop, so you can find best online store where you can buy good wine. Prices are mostly cheaper on the web due to the competition. The more and more companies are competing for your business, and the more they tend to lower their prices. So, I think online store is good if you want to buy wine. The most important wine is delivering to your home in free of cost.

 

[psuath]

Cases and kegs must be purchased at a licensed "beer distributor". Beer distributor's cannot sell smaller quantities such as 6-packs or individual quarts or 40's. If one wishes to buy a smaller quantity, or to buy beer on Sundays, they must go to a "bottle shop" or to a restaurant with liquor license. However, the limit at these places is 144 fluid ounces. That means a maximum of two 12-ounce six-packs. If you want a six-pack of pounders, you can only get one at a time. If you want more than the limit, you must walk out of the store, and then immediately re-enter and purchase up to another 144 ounces. You may leave and re-enter as many times as you want to.

Crazy!

The only place more bizarre is Utah. There, you can buy 3.2% ABW (4.0% ABV) beer in the supermarkets, but if you want "real" beer, you must go to a state controlled liquor store. You can by beer buy the individual bottle in these state stores. Even Utah's brewpubs are limited to 3.2% beer.

actually, i thought it was 194 or 196 ounces. I remember in college all the bottle shops had postings saying what you could buy and gave the "combinations" of products.
It would have things like 2 six-packs and 2 40's (188 ounces).
or a 12 pack and 2 40s' (188)
or a 6 of pounders and some singles..(well you get the drift)

 

[Soyala_Amaya]

The other thing you have to be careful of is a lot of the states that have hard shipping restrictions also have BREWING restrictions. From research I've done, most of them seem to operate on a "people do it till they get caught" kind of thing, and some states (like Louisiana) have almost incomprehensible brew laws that basically leave it up to the arresting officer writing it up.

I know Utah has brew laws, and Arkansas, and their are a few others. Some just restrict what you can brew, or the ABV limit, and almost all the states have distillery illegal.

Of course, this is all based on the US. You people across the pond can apply your own tidbits.

A bit more on topic, most websites that ship alcohol will normally have a FAQ about where they will not ship. You should double check that before trying to make a purchase, because some sites don't care whether or not you know they will ship to you. You try to make a purchase and you're somewhere that won't take it, they charge you anyway and you get no wine.

Also, most alcohol won't ship to a PO box, they will only ship to a home were someone with proof of legal age has to sign for it.

 

[schlapppy]

In Pennsylvania, one can only buy wine and hard liquor through state controlled stores. No outside sources are allowed unless they are officially "affiliated" with the PA state stores. That means none of the great on-line wine club deals are available to us. And any offer from affiliated clubs means greatly inflated prices.

Bummer.

I've ordered from wine.com and had it shipped to PA with no problems. I've done it a few times actually, and know others who have had success.