Beat the Wine Shipping Blues

For smucks like me living in Massachusetts, and always wanting small production wines from Oregon and California, the retail stores out here can only do so much for me.

They try to cover the bases, but of course, are limited to their distributors’ selections. The wine shops I frequent have excellent selections from around the world, but can’t begin to satisfy my craving for small winery, limited production juice. So, I need to visit each winey’s web site, see what they have to offer, and order online. Oh, but of course I live in one of the 38 states that prohibit the winery from directly shipping wine to me.

Sure I can go online and order an Uzi, Hand Grenades or Home Bomb Making Guide to be delivered to me via UPS or FedEx, but I can’t get a damn bottle of 1999 Panther Creek “Arcus Vineyard” Pinot Noir sent to me from Oregon. Where’s the justice?


Direct shipping laws and regulations now-a-days suck, and they don’t seem to be getting any better anytime soon. The large beverage wholesalers who have a strangle-hold on the market are going to do everything they can to keep the 3-tier alcoholic beverage distribution system intact and keep wineries from directly shipping to 38 states.

So how can we beat the system?
Have your wine shipped to a private cellar in a state that is “direct shipping” friendly, such as California. Once it is in the cellar it is your property and you may have it shipped to you on demand. The one company that we know of that is offering this option now is Sausalito Cellars in Sausalito, California. They are a professional wine storage facility that ensures perfect treatment and storage conditions for your precious little fine wines.

This is the perfect solution to anyone’s shipping woes. The Cellar Master personally checks in your wine and cares for it until you say “Yo, box up my juice and send it to daddy”.

Back to Beat the Wine Shipping Blues