These Outdated Laws...

Did you not check before you "immigrated"?

Get out of Ohio - quick - and find somewhere a little more "progressive" to live.

Or be prepared to make a stand and change the law..

st.helier

"progressive"

Well, I knew about the shipping law, but not the mandatory markup. I do have to admit that, despite my passion for wine, it's not going to determine where I live.

Dark Helmet

You have three main groups to thank...

a) the liquor and wine wholesale distributors, who want to continue their stranglehold on the spirits monopoly.

b) The politicians, who are either in bed with the distributors or will be unwilling to lose out on any opportunity to tax you (or both)

and c) the damned prohibitionists, who are still at it after all these years.

The Texas Supreme Court just struck down the laws banning home deliveries (WOOOHOOOO!) so I can now get wines from those obscure out of state wineries that the wholesale distributors wouldn't touch due to their lack of interest in ordering anything less than a truckload.

I feel your pain. C'mon down here to the Lone Star State. GWB stays far away (mostly), BBQ is the best in the world, booze is cheap, compared to up north, though not nearly as cheap as it is next door in Louisiana. La.'s legal code is a bit dated though, so I can't recommend living there.

While I'm not going to defend the outrageous liquor control laws in Ohio, I don't think that wine is priced here much differrently than in Colorado. Having spent a considerable amount of time in Colorado I found that the wines prices for high end wines were very close. Retailers have a mandatory 30% markup over wholesale cost. Many States forbid direct shipment and in Ohio one can legally ship wines that are not distributed here. I haven't found it to be much of a problem. The few wine makers that don't ship to Ohio (or other States with bans) will recommend a shipping company that will, in effect, someone other than the winery takes title in California and ships it on to you. I have also purchased wine from a number of out of state sources, WIne wholesalers, wine clubs, secondary markets, auction houses, etc. As to the availablity, I live in the Columbus area and haven't had any problem finding what I'm looking for. The biggest problem is the allocation that many makers have on their product that sends the bulk of their production to their mailing list or to restaurants. In general I find the deliverd prices in Ohio to be fairly close to what the price is at the winery when you include the shipping costs. Bi!!

business, it

I can't really comment on Ohio law, but in my state, it's still illegal even if it's to a place of business, but some e-retailers may ship anyway because they will be able to find a carrier. They probably won't mark the box as containing wine. I think they feel that a business to business package will be questioned less than a business to private residence package.

Andy

Try -

Dick

RV, I have to majorly disagree with you. I find a huge price increase here in Ohio versus the retail in Colorado. A possible reason may be that the retail price in Colorado to usually be much lower than the MSRP. I really have no idea why this is, but it may have more to do with the down market than anything. Example - last night at a typical local merchant, I picked up a bottle of 2000 Fransiscan 2000 Cab marked down from 29.99 to 24.99. At Lucas Liquor in Colorado, this was 19.99 everyday.

Dark Helmet

Re-read my quote. Price the wine at the winery, include the shipping and it's not that far off of retail in Ohio. I recently paid less for a case of 1999 Merryvale Profile in a wine store here in Columbus than it cost at the winery in April when you included the shipping. We can site anectodal evidence to support any position. Buy wine outside of the State. It's easy enough to do. Go to Zachys.com Bi!!