I'm writing an article for a magazine about shipping home made wine in the
US and Canada.

I know a lot of winemakers do this for competitions. They ship wine from
their house to the judges.

Both US and Canadian postal laws forbid shipping intoxicating beverages with
an alcohol content above 0.5 percent. Therefore wine shipping can only be
done by parcel courriers, like FedEx, UPS, etc. Even then, they have strict
regulations, insisting on licences and import permits that just about
squeeze out the consumer. I know this is an issue everyone has with big
government. Even so, amatuer winemakers are shipping wine to competitions.
I'm interested in how this is being done legally. I'm would like to know how
it's being done in a way that I can publish openly in a magazine article.

Are there technicalities amateur winemakers can use to their advantage to
ship wine legally? Anyone know?

If you send your packed wine to a contest and label the box "sample
material", does that recategorize the alcoholic beverage into something
else?

Any experience or useable feedback on this would be appreciated.

Regards
Jeff Chorniak