First it was books, then housewares and groceries. Now Internet giant Amazon.com is gearing up to sell wine starting in October. If you're already a wine wonk, you probably have your own favorite Internet sites that sell the bottles you covet most. But for the majority of Internet shoppers who like wine but aren't total geeks, the announcement is pretty big news.
But before you start ordering cases of vino, figure out if your state even allows direct shipping (not all states do). If your state qualifies and you sign up for Amazon Prime ($79/year) you'll get free shipping. Pretty sweet deal, huh?
The next question is what kinds of wine will be for sale. Amazon is pretty close-lipped at the moment, as are the Napa Valley Vintners, who are putting on seminars to teach wineries how to sell through Amazon, but it seems that the selection might go beyond Yellow Tail-type wines and actually include some smaller boutique producers. That's good for the producers, and good for us.
One thing is for sure: the "big three" regions of California, Oregon, and Washington won't monopolize the market. Amazon says they'll offer wines from all over the U.S. Now that every single state has at least one commercial winery, a whole new wine experience will be available with the click of the mouse.
So would you buy wine from Amazon.com or keep to your friendly neighborhood shop?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
9-12-2008 @ 10:32AM
ronzo said...
I'd still rather buy from a local place.
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9-12-2008 @ 10:59AM
Iscariote said...
I love my friendly neighborhood shop, but cash in my pocket trumps all.
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9-12-2008 @ 12:50PM
hal said...
Will they be able to ship to Pennsylvania? My PA wine-loving friends jump through some serious hoops to get wine back home after tastings in California.
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9-12-2008 @ 12:56PM
quirk.brian said...
wine.woot.com has been doing this for a while now
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9-12-2008 @ 1:51PM
Gretchen Roberts said...
Hal, it looks like Pennsylvania is still struggling to figure out what they're doing when it comes to direct shipping: http://www.winespectator.com/Wine/Features/0,1197,4564,00.html. If you want to do some grassroots campaigning you can write your legislators through http://freethegrapes.com/. Good luck!
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9-12-2008 @ 2:29PM
ChillyWilly said...
I live in Utah.. they can't deliver here. I will continue to get the basic selection of smashed grapes they sell here.
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9-12-2008 @ 2:48PM
Scott said...
I'll probably do this pretty regularly... I'm an Amazon Prime subscriber because I'm always ordering things from them, and it's very nice to get it all fast and with "free" (or at least, "bulk") shipping. And I live in a town with no decent liquor stores, so I have no allegiances to nice local places. So, it'd be real swell to get a diverse selection of wine delivered to my door. Thanks for posting this!
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9-12-2008 @ 10:57PM
ChrisV said...
For those of you with Prime memberships, here’s a good website for searching for Amazon Prime items:
www.amazanian.com
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