Hello!

I'm considering a trip out west to tour Napa and Sonoma wineries. I live in
a state that no longer allows wine to be shipped in direct to an individual,
so no internet sales here. My question: Since wineries and retailers can't
ship to my state, what's to prevent me from assembling a couple of cases of
wines that I purchase out there and sending it back to me? Are there
shipping services available - styrofoam boxes, etc. easily accessible for me
to do this? Is the cost reasonable?

Thanks for any advice.

John

JB wrote:

> Hello!
>
> I'm considering a trip out west to tour Napa and Sonoma wineries. I live in
> a state that no longer allows wine to be shipped in direct to an individual,
> so no internet sales here. My question: Since wineries and retailers can't
> ship to my state, what's to prevent me from assembling a couple of cases of
> wines that I purchase out there and sending it back to me? Are there
> shipping services available - styrofoam boxes, etc. easily accessible for me
> to do this? Is the cost reasonable?

Beverages & More, located throughout the Bay Area, sell styrofoam wine shippers
in 2-, 4-, 6- and 12-bottle format (this includes a corrugated cardboard
exterior). Buy however many you need, load 'em up, seal them and place
address information on the outside, then take to a UPS store or FedEx outlet
and send them to yourself. Do not indicate the nature of the contents
anywhere on the box or the paperwork. Cost: roughly $25 per 12 bottle shipper
for 2-day shipping. Make sure that the bottles won't encounter temperature
extremes (>90° F or <20° F) in their journey and enjoy.

HTH
Mark Lipton

On Mon, 08 Mar 2004 23:18:29 GMT, "JB" > wrote:

>Hello!
>
>I'm considering a trip out west to tour Napa and Sonoma wineries. I live in
>a state that no longer allows wine to be shipped in direct to an individual,
>so no internet sales here. My question: Since wineries and retailers can't
>ship to my state, what's to prevent me from assembling a couple of cases of
>wines that I purchase out there and sending it back to me? Are there
>shipping services available - styrofoam boxes, etc. easily accessible for me
>to do this? Is the cost reasonable?
>
>Thanks for any advice.
>
>John
>
I don't see why you couldn't. It would depend upon the wording of your
particular state law however. (I'm fortunate enough to live in an
enlightened state.)

Currently some stores provide a disclaimer on their online sites that
states "title passes to the owner in the state" and then shipping is
technically as you describe--self-to-self.

Most definitely in Napa/Sonoma you'll find it easy to get good
styrofoam packing shapes and appropriate boxes. UPS, Fedex, Airborne,
Roadway, etc. all do a nice job of handling the shipments. Cost is
minimal for good wines.


Ed Rasimus
Fighter Pilot (USAF-Ret)
"When Thunder Rolled"
Smithsonian Institution Press
ISBN #1-58834-103-8

I think you will find that most shipping services won't accept a wine box for
shipping to a state where it's illegal (and most of them know what a wine
shipping box looks like)

JB wrote:

>Hello!
>
>I'm considering a trip out west to tour Napa and Sonoma wineries. I live in
>a state that no longer allows wine to be shipped in direct to an individual,
>so no internet sales here. My question: Since wineries and retailers can't
>ship to my state, what's to prevent me from assembling a couple of cases of
>wines that I purchase out there and sending it back to me? Are there
>shipping services available - styrofoam boxes, etc. easily accessible for me
>to do this? Is the cost reasonable?
>

I think federal law now allows the winery to ship wine that you have
purchased to your home address.
Email me directly and I will give you a fall back in case they will not
ship for you.
Bill

Fed Ex was the first to adopt a no-wine policy when the states started
passing their anti-shipping laws.
Now I am getting regular shipments via Fed Ex. The wine clubs are using
the federal law with the claim
that you have purchased the wine before they ship it.



--
Cork-O-Mattic
The Proper Stopper
Exclusive butt plug of
the Special Olympics

Check out http://freethegrapes.org/ for USA wine shipping particulars.
FWIW, UPS shipments to their mid-atlantic distribution center (Virginia?)
are routinely destroyed. Acquaintences have had good luck using Air Borne
Express for shipments to "non-friendly" states.
--
J.Harris

"JB" > wrote in message
ink.net...
> Hello!
>
> I'm considering a trip out west to tour Napa and Sonoma wineries. I live
in
> a state that no longer allows wine to be shipped in direct to an
individual,
> so no internet sales here. My question: Since wineries and retailers can't
> ship to my state, what's to prevent me from assembling a couple of cases
of
> wines that I purchase out there and sending it back to me? Are there
> shipping services available - styrofoam boxes, etc. easily accessible for
me
> to do this? Is the cost reasonable?
>
> Thanks for any advice.
>
> John

At one time, I brought back wine in styro boxes as extra luggage. The trick
was to greet a sky hop at the airport with a $5 or $10 handshake and tell
him there's more if he helps you get your stash on the plane as baggage--you
might be charged by the airline for extra luggage. Since 9/11 I doubt if
this is possible.

UPS in California or other shipping services know by now that the
rectangular box of glassware you are sending to your self or even Aunt Edna
is really wine and will turn you down. As a former broker I found UPS
places, individually owned, willingly went along with the charade and took
my money-one even got me a small insurance payment when my glass jar broke
but this was on the East Coast, this is when I sent samples to
importers/wholesalers etc.

Anyway want you want to send back are wines you can not find in your state
or older vintages. Most wineries retail prices are set high to protect the
wholesalers/retailers who buy from them. Only a few like Mayacamus sold you
a wine at their door way below local retail in the Mid West and East.

Nowadays folks on mailing lists have a number of ploys to get their wines
delivered and there is a little cottage industry made of entrepreneurial
collectors who've joined forces to beat the restrictive laws and cowardly
shipping companies. Basically this involves shipping wine to a state
without restrictions and then trusting the addressee to have good storage
and a modicum of self restraint and integrity. You then have to drive and
pick up the ill gotten booty. Sometimes I have heard that a distributor
will ship back consumers wines with one of his Left Coast shipments. This
is done as a favour to a retail account and the consumer should offer to pay
for the shipping(Between $5-10 a case and offer the wholesaler a bottle for
their trouble) I had some mailing list wine shipped to a West Coast shipper
and then sent to a distributor I was doing business with a regular shipment.
Instead of keeping the case for myself and letting some friends buy a few
bottles, the distributor offered to buy the whole case and let me have one
bottle. Valuing the man's business more than owning the wine I agreed but I
never made this offer again!

Hope that the Supreme Court gets ahold of the shipping issue in our lifetime
and with Ken Starr on the side of Free the Grapes allows us the chance to
buy what we want and shipped to our front doors.

--
Joe "Beppe" Rosenberg
"J. Harris" > wrote in message
link.net...
> Check out http://freethegrapes.org/ for USA wine shipping particulars.
> FWIW, UPS shipments to their mid-atlantic distribution center (Virginia?)
> are routinely destroyed. Acquaintences have had good luck using Air Borne
> Express for shipments to "non-friendly" states.
> --
> J.Harris
>
> "JB" > wrote in message
> ink.net...
> > Hello!
> >
> > I'm considering a trip out west to tour Napa and Sonoma wineries. I live
> in
> > a state that no longer allows wine to be shipped in direct to an
> individual,
> > so no internet sales here. My question: Since wineries and retailers
can't
> > ship to my state, what's to prevent me from assembling a couple of cases
> of
> > wines that I purchase out there and sending it back to me? Are there
> > shipping services available - styrofoam boxes, etc. easily accessible
for
> me
> > to do this? Is the cost reasonable?
> >
> > Thanks for any advice.
> >
> > John
>
>

I know some people utilize http://www.fiftyfivedegrees.com and ship
from there. Several people have told me they have had success getting
wine to themselves by having it sent here first.
Dan

I tried to UPS a case to MI from CA last year during a visit. One of the
wineries suggested I tell them it was olive oil if they ask. I wasn't real
comfortable with this but did it anyway. I left the UPS office and was
sitting in my car looking at my map for a minute and the UPS guy came
storming out of the office and chewed me out (he had opened the box to
check). I felt like a criminal (I guess I was) and thought they were going
to call the police. Needless to say, I don't recommend this approach.

If it is a case or less, just get a good packing box from one of the
wineries and check it as baggage on your trip home.

"JB" > wrote in message
ink.net...
> Hello!
>
> I'm considering a trip out west to tour Napa and Sonoma wineries. I live
in
> a state that no longer allows wine to be shipped in direct to an
individual,
> so no internet sales here. My question: Since wineries and retailers can't
> ship to my state, what's to prevent me from assembling a couple of cases
of
> wines that I purchase out there and sending it back to me? Are there
> shipping services available - styrofoam boxes, etc. easily accessible for
me
> to do this? Is the cost reasonable?
>
> Thanks for any advice.
>
> John
>
>




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"Eric" > wrote in message
...
> I tried to UPS a case to MI from CA last year during a visit. One of the
> wineries suggested I tell them it was olive oil if they ask. I wasn't
real
> comfortable with this but did it anyway. I left the UPS office and was
> sitting in my car looking at my map for a minute and the UPS guy came
> storming out of the office and chewed me out (he had opened the box to
> check). I felt like a criminal (I guess I was) and thought they were
going
> to call the police. Needless to say, I don't recommend this approach.
>
> If it is a case or less, just get a good packing box from one of the
> wineries and check it as baggage on your trip home.

Never ship in a wine shipper. Wrap the bottles in bubble wrap and place in
peanuts or newspaper.

The wine shippers are a dead giveaway. When UPS/Fedex hears the rattling
styrofoam, they know it's wine. Don't let them hear it.


>
> "JB" > wrote in message
> ink.net...
> > Hello!
> >
> > I'm considering a trip out west to tour Napa and Sonoma wineries. I live
> in
> > a state that no longer allows wine to be shipped in direct to an
> individual,
> > so no internet sales here. My question: Since wineries and retailers
can't
> > ship to my state, what's to prevent me from assembling a couple of cases
> of
> > wines that I purchase out there and sending it back to me? Are there
> > shipping services available - styrofoam boxes, etc. easily accessible
for
> me
> > to do this? Is the cost reasonable?
> >
> > Thanks for any advice.
> >
> > John
> >
> >
>
>
>
>
> -----= Posted via Newsfeeds.Com, Uncensored Usenet News =-----
> http://www.newsfeeds.com - The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World!
> -----== Over 100,000 Newsgroups - 19 Different Servers! =-----

"Joe Beppe Rosenberg" > wrote:

>At one time, I brought back wine in styro boxes as extra luggage. The trick
>was to greet a sky hop at the airport with a $5 or $10 handshake and tell
>him there's more if he helps you get your stash on the plane as baggage--you
>might be charged by the airline for extra luggage. Since 9/11 I doubt if
>this is possible.
>

We go to Napa every year and have never had a problem bringing back a
couple cases of wine as checked baggage. We have done this twice since
9/11, the last time being May 2003. The person checking our luggage
knew the boxes contained wine and even put a sticker on the cartons
saying "Fragile, handle with care".

As long as you meet the airlines regulations concerning luggage like,
total weight and number of pieces, there will be no problem.

Cliff

"Joe Beppe Rosenberg" > wrote:

>At one time, I brought back wine in styro boxes as extra luggage. The trick
>was to greet a sky hop at the airport with a $5 or $10 handshake and tell
>him there's more if he helps you get your stash on the plane as baggage--you
>might be charged by the airline for extra luggage. Since 9/11 I doubt if
>this is possible.
>

We go to Napa every year and have never had a problem bringing back a
couple cases of wine as checked baggage. We have done this twice since
9/11, the last time being May 2003. The person checking our luggage
knew the boxes contained wine and even put a sticker on the cartons
saying "Fragile, handle with care".

As long as you meet the airlines regulations concerning luggage like,
total weight and number of pieces, there will be no problem.

Cliff