....really suck. I just moved from Colorado to Ohio and now have to deal
with two issues:

1. No shipping direct from wineries.
2. I don't know if the rest of you are aware of this, but I just found out
that all wine in Ohio retail stores has to be marked up 130% from the
wholesale price. This is the law in Ohio. Now it doesn't apply to beer or
spirits, just wine. Every wine establishment I have tried has had prices
way, way above what I used to pay in Colorado at any of Lucas Liquor,
Applejacks, Davidson's, Argonauts or County Line. I'm finding typical
prices 30-50% more than I paid in Colorado. Not to mention that the
selection is awful in Ohio due to, I would believe, the inability to sell
much wine at these prices.

All I can say is that this really, really sucks.

Ok, now that I have that off my chest, I have a question in regards to #1.
Someone told me that if I have the wine shipped to a place of business, it
would be ok to buy direct from a winery. I find this hard to believe, but
does anyone have any insight on this? Outside of that, how the hell do I
get my hands on decent, correctly priced wine in Ohio?

Lastly, what the heck is going on nowadays in regards to all these outdated
laws?

Dark Helmet

"Dark Helmet" wrote in message
> I just moved from Colorado to Ohio and now have to deal
> with two issues which really suck..
>
> 1. No shipping direct from wineries.
> 2. I don't know if the rest of you are aware of this, but I just found
out
> that all wine in Ohio retail stores has to be marked up 130% from the
> wholesale price. This is the law in Ohio. Now it doesn't apply to beer
or
> spirits, just wine.


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

"Advertorial" > wrote in message
...
> "Dark Helmet" wrote in message
> > I just moved from Colorado to Ohio and now have to deal
> > with two issues which really suck..
> >
> > 1. No shipping direct from wineries.
> > 2. I don't know if the rest of you are aware of this, but I just found
> out
> > that all wine in Ohio retail stores has to be marked up 130% from the
> > wholesale price. This is the law in Ohio. Now it doesn't apply to beer
> or
> > spirits, just wine.
>
>
> 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
>
>


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

In article > ,
"Dark Helmet" > wrote:

> ...really suck. I just moved from Colorado to Ohio and now have to deal
> with two issues:
>
> 1. No shipping direct from wineries.
> 2. I don't know if the rest of you are aware of this, but I just found out
> that all wine in Ohio retail stores has to be marked up 130% from the
> wholesale price. This is the law in Ohio. Now it doesn't apply to beer or
> spirits, just wine. Every wine establishment I have tried has had prices
> way, way above what I used to pay in Colorado at any of Lucas Liquor,
> Applejacks, Davidson's, Argonauts or County Line. I'm finding typical
> prices 30-50% more than I paid in Colorado. Not to mention that the
> selection is awful in Ohio due to, I would believe, the inability to sell
> much wine at these prices.
>
> All I can say is that this really, really sucks.
>
> Ok, now that I have that off my chest, I have a question in regards to #1.
> Someone told me that if I have the wine shipped to a place of business, it
> would be ok to buy direct from a winery. I find this hard to believe, but
> does anyone have any insight on this? Outside of that, how the hell do I
> get my hands on decent, correctly priced wine in Ohio?
>
> Lastly, what the heck is going on nowadays in regards to all these outdated
> laws?

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.

>1. No shipping direct from wineries.
>2. I don't know if the rest of you are aware of this, but I just found out
>that all wine in Ohio retail stores has to be marked up 130% from the
>wholesale price. This is the law in Ohio. Now it doesn't apply to beer or
>spirits, just wine. Every wine establishment I have tried has had prices
>way, way above what I used to pay in Colorado at any of Lucas Liquor,
>Applejacks, Davidson's, Argonauts or County Line. I'm finding typical
>prices 30-50% more than I paid in Colorado. Not to mention that the
>selection is awful in Ohio due to, I would believe, the inability to sell
>much wine at these prices.
>
>All I can say is that this really, really sucks.
>
>Ok, now that I have that off my chest, I have a question in regards to #1.
>Someone told me that if I have the wine shipped to a place of business, it
>would be ok to buy direct from a winery. I find this hard to believe, but
>does anyone have any insight on this? Outside of that, how the hell do I
>get my hands on decent, correctly priced wine in Ohio?
>
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!!

"Dark Helmet" > wrote in message .net>...

>> Someone told me that if I have the wine shipped to a place of
business, it
> would be ok to buy direct from a winery. I find this hard to believe, but
> does anyone have any insight on this?

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

Dark Helmet wrote:
<snip>

> Lastly, what the heck is going on nowadays in regards to all these outdated
> laws?

Try -
http://www.wineinstitute.org/shipwine/index.htm
For the latest info.

Dick

"RV WRLee" > wrote in message
...
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!!

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

>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!!
>
>RV, I have to majorly disagree with you

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!!