Amazon wine sales

I heard on the radio this morning that Amazon is going to begin their wine sales in October.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080910/wr_nm/amazon_wine_dc

I know that 26 states will be able to order wine from Amazon. Is Kentucky one of these states? Also, does anyone think that this will hurt sales of local wine distributers in Louisville or anywhere else? It seems like Amazon is pretty cheap for books so I'm wondering if their wine will be cheaper too.

[Robin Garr]

I heard on the radio this morning that Amazon is going to begin their wine sales in October.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080910/wr_nm/amazon_wine_dc

I know that 26 states will be able to order wine from Amazon. Is Kentucky one of these states? Also, does anyone think that this will hurt sales of local wine distributers in Louisville or anywhere else? It seems like Amazon is pretty cheap for books so I'm wondering if their wine will be cheaper too.

Jessica, it's a non-starter for us, I'm afraid. Although a federal court threw out a particularly bad wine-shipping law, a move that in my non-legal interpretation SHOULD have opened up wine shipping to Kentuckians, we in fact remain one of the states in which most wine vendors will not ship directly to consumers.

I don't know if this is still the case, but until now, Amazon's wine sales have been through Wine.com, a large E-tailer whose prices are generally extremely high. Personally, I'm just glad that Louisville has wine shops with selection well above most cities our size, and pricing that at worst seems around the median. We're not as desperate for wine shipping as folks in cities less well served by local retail.

I agree Robin, after the court ruling there shouldn't be an issue shipping wine to Kentucky but some sellers still think there is. Of course, I've never had a problem getting my allocations ship to my home anyway! The FedEx driver always laughs about how much "pottery" I buy from California. While I agree we have a very good local group all wine retailers there are still many smaller wineries whose products are not available here.

[Robin Garr]

Of course, I've never had a problem getting my allocations ship to my home anyway! The FedEx driver always laughs about how much "pottery" I buy from California. While I agree we have a very good local group all wine retailers there are still many smaller wineries whose products are not available here.

Our UPS and FedEx guys are cool, too, Mark. They always hint for wine for Christmas, and that works for me!

You're right, too, about rare and allocated wines, although there's still that problem of convincing wineries that it's okay for them to ship. As a wine writer I have a slight advantage there. We ought to compare notes - perhaps privately - about vendors that will generally ship out to us in the Bluegrass State.