Whether you need a recommendation or you're new to the world of wine, simply contact us-one of our experts will happily help. Along with our quality wines, we deliver top-notch customer service. It is time to finally enact a direct-to-consumer wine shipment law in The First State.With our selection of fine wine for sale, you'll feel as if you were hand picking a wine from the fields of France. It is time for our state to move into the 21st Century, give wine lovers more freedom of choice, and help our domestic wineries thrive. Set annual limits on how much wineries would be able to ship to individual households and to Delaware as a whole.Delawareans can already get sensitive materials, such as prescription drugs, delivered to their front doors.įorty-seven states and most Americans can get wine shipped to their homes.Restrict deliveries to adults over the age of 21 that must identify themselves and sign for the package.Impose the same state alcohol taxes levied on retail sales.Require licensing of wineries shipping their products to Delaware.Mandate special labeling of the packages.
Wine delivery delaware how to#
Require drivers to receive training on how to responsibly make wine deliveries.Require carriers, like FedEx and UPS, to obtain special licenses to handle wine shipments.
Introduced in May, House Bill 210 is model legislation that has been proven effective in other states. There is bipartisan legislation currently pending action in the Delaware General Assembly that seeks to move our state forward. They are barred from shipping wine to Delawareans, depriving these small businesses from a consumer base most likely to have visited their vineyard and been familiar with their products. 460), Delaware’s four operating wineries – Pizzadili, Nassau Valley, Salted Vines, and Harvest Ridge – share the same fate as their counterparts elsewhere. It found that the total gallons of wine sold in Maryland increased by only 0.34% as a result of direct wine shipping, while the volume of wine sold through retail establishments increased 3.61% after enactment.įurther, according to the report, there were no reported incidents of underage access and no significant complaints regarding the law’s implementation from the industry, permit holders, or consumers.ĭelaware consumers are not the only ones hurt by The First State’s obsolete wine law. This reality was borne out in a December 2012 report by the Maryland Comptroller’s Office on the impact of that state’s DTC wine shipping law enacted 17 months earlier. Brick-and-mortar retailers have a different business model that focuses on mass marketed products. Such transactions typically complement, rather than compete, with those made by local vendors. However, even as the number of states that allow DTC wine shipments has steadily increased – from 26 in 2005 to 47 now – there has never been any credible evidence presented to support this apprehension.ĭTC wine sales are a niche market, specializing in wines not found in shops. Disappointingly, all these efforts have failed after lobbying by a coalition of package store owners, distributors, and unionized distribution workers who all benefit from the status quo.Īs previous legislative testimony has indicated, this opposition has been driven by fear that direct wine shipment will undermine retail sales. There have been numerous attempts over the last decade in Delaware to allow limited direct home shipment of wine. One Wine Institute survey indicates the nation’s top 50 largest wineries produce more than 90% of American wine. The profit margins simply do not justify the greater investment of resources when compared to marketing the top sellers for which there is a ready clientele and steady demand.
Delawareans wishing to buy wine not found on the shelves of their local stores can only legally obtain it through a process that channels all sales of beer, wine, and liquor through a three-tier system of distributors, wholesalers, and retailers that was established following the repeal of Prohibition.Īccording to the National Association of American Wineries, there are more than 10,000 wineries in the U.S., but the overwhelming majority of these enterprises are craft, small-volume operations – too small to have relationships with distributors, making it very difficult to get their products in Delaware.Īdditionally, brick-and-mortar retailers have no economic incentive to engage in the fringe business of either stocking obscure wines or ordering such labels one or two bottles at a time. This is an issue of consumer choice, product availability, and the antiquated limitations of the nearly 90-year-old Delaware alcoholic beverage system.
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