USVI-On-Line

Okay everyone - I know there are some wine drinkers here, and I am finally (after a couple of years of planning) getting very close to selecting and selling Italian wine as a small business. I would be sending the wine to the US and it would be available on-line for delivery in most states. This would be boutique, artisan, small vineyard wine - non corporate and non commercial - but very high quality. So the questions are:

Do you buy wine on-line?

Would you buy a wine on-line you have not had before?

Is $20 - $25 a bottle (plus shipping) in your price range (even occasionally)?

This is a sort of crazy dream and I know the timing is probably pretty poor, but it is something I have always wanted to try (my dad was a wine salesman and I briefly was also in another pre-USVI related life!) and I think I have most of the pieces of the puzzle in place to make it happen.

Anyway - would really be interested in your feedback of any kind on this subject.

Thanks -

I volunteer to be your guinea pig!

I have ordered on line but then had to pick up because I think there are some crazy laws about having wine shipped to NJ. I really don't know a lot about that but I think this is the case (case, get it? LOL )

If there was a VERY thorough description I would buy a wine I had not tried and yes $20-25 is in my range for something I enjoy.

Good luck .. VERY interested to watch this one unfold!

Thanks for the feedback MB - NJ is okay on shipping but an adult has to sign for the delivery. I will keep you posted on the progress of this -

mbw1024 wrote:
I have ordered on line but then had to pick up because I think there are some crazy laws about having wine shipped to NJ. I really don't know a lot about that but I think this is the case (case, get it? LOL )

After a couple trips to California wine country we joined 3 different wine clubs. The rules here in NJ are somewhat confusing but it can be done. Some wineries flat out refused to send to NJ and others have ways to get around the shipping issue. I think it needs to be sent to a middle man as it doesn't come directly from the winery to us....it makes a stop at some "facility" in the state along the way! We are only in one club now and the reason is that it is wine we can't get here in NJ. Living here we have quite a varied selection of all price range wine. I have to agree w/ MAryBeth that the price range is acceptable but it is nice to have a taste before ordering, so description would be vital and something not readily available locally.

Good luck Anthony!

Carolyn wrote:and something not readily available locally

Absolutely - this is one of the angles. The vineyards we are potentially working with do not have US distribution. And many of them have agriturismo (rooms to stay on property, etc.) so there is some US demand from people who have visited and know the wines - but they can't currently get any unless they order from Italy, which is crazy (about $200 US a case in shipping!).

The wines would be thoroughly described, as would the vineyards, with photos, probably some video, tasting notes, etc. The plan would be to start with at least 6 wines so I could offer a specially priced sampler pack - and then if you are interested you could order more individually.

Hi Anthony,

John is our wine procurer. He buys a lot of wine online, in all price ranges, both new stuff and things we have had before. Some of it comes direct from the wineries. He also buys from some shops in California that have access to wines we love that we can't get here through our normal distribution channels. He also shops on wine commune and a couple of other similar sites.

The sampler pack is a great idea.

When you are ready to sell, let me know--we'll definitely try your wines!

You are the Tignanello fans, right? I was hoping you would chime in. Thanks for all the comments - at least I can bank on a few sales I guess!

I love samplers of all sorts

Hi Anthony
If you can get me the wines I drank there I would order in a heart beat. Would you need to put sulfides in them to ship here? It was so nice not getting a hang over after have a few liters with dinner.LOL
Tom

Almost all the wine contains sulfites, even the biodynamic (or "organic") wine, since it is technically allowed (natural compound). Did you drink wine here without that you were aware of?

Anthony, I do wine of the month and three different bottles of wine per month works. I need to be able to get more if we especially like the samples. Virginia is good for shipping, but you need to get registered.

Cheers, RickG

Rick the company I am looking to work with handles all of that - my part would be finding great wine, getting it to America, and then promoting it on the web. They do all the fulfillment and they have all the legal docs, etc. I am still researching but I think they have about 42 states covered - I will check on Virginia.

We are in Maine and even though it goes democratic in every election, it's super conservative as far as the wine deliveries go. So here it's a no go unless we move to anywhere that might be more progressive.

Anthony, having spent about 25 years in the int'l freight business, you might want to check with the fullfillment company if they are going to be the importer of record. If this is a commercial deal they would have to be registered with ATF. It's not enough to just be an importer.


If you need info, send me an email and I will get the info from my old contacts still slugging it out in the freight business.

Acorrding to the winery that we went to they have to ad extra sulfides to the wine to ship it to the us some thing he wasn't happy with.