Online Imbibing

Cheers! I'd like to propose a toast to the Web and online shopping. Shopping, once a passion I indulged in on weekends, holidays, and--when I could get away with it--at work, is now an anytime pleasure. And what better way to celebrate than with a glass of wine, purchased at one of my favorite virtual liquor stores?

Unfortunately, you may not all be able to join in. Why? Because purchasing alcohol isn't like buying a book or CD. Whether you buy online or in person, all sorts of rules, regulations, and taxes apply. These restrictions can dampen the spirits of anyone who lives in a state with restrictive laws.

Living in California, one of the most permissive states for mail-order wine purchases, I didn't realize the problem existed. But one day, I read a grumbling message posted to my food-and-wine-lovers mailing list from a fellow list subscriber in Kentucky. He was ranting because he'd read somebody else's raves about a particularly nice wine that he couldn't have shipped in because of his state's liquor laws. In Kentucky it's a felony for an out-of-state winery to ship you liquor, unless you actually send it to yourself while on a trip. Otherwise, you have to buy from a licensed Kentucky retailer, and if you can't get a dealer near you to order a wine you want, you're out of luck.

Kentucky is one of seven states that make it a felony for an out-of-state business to ship alcohol to state residents. Laws about so-called direct shipments of wines vary widely: For a good summary, including a color-coded map and state-by-state analysis of applicable law, head to the Direct Shipment section of the Wine Institute's Web site. The Web sites I sampled for this story provide polite no-can-do messages when users attempt to order wine for delivery in certain states like Kentucky--or they simply don't show the states at all in their delivery destination menus.