There are many states that have restrictions on ordering wine online, but California isn’t one of them. It’s incredibly easy to receive wine in the mail in California, as the alcohol shipping laws are incredibly lax.
There are a couple of things you must know when ordering wine online in California, but these stipulations aren’t going to prevent you from receiving the wine you want delivered to your door.
Read on to discover the wine shipping laws in California, the best wine clubs and retailers that ship wine to this state, and how to get wine delivered to California.
California wine delivery services
Contents
- Overview of wine shipping laws in California
- Wine clubs that ship to California
- Additional wine clubs that ship to California
- Conclusion
Overview of wine shipping laws in California
The wine shipping laws in California are extremely lenient. Similar to states like Arizona, California has an open permit, meaning shipping wine to California is pretty easy, and there aren’t a whole lot of roadblocks for consumers receiving the product.
There are a few small stipulations on shipping wine, but it’s nothing too difficult. First, all non-California wineries must obtain a Type 82 Direct Wine Shipper Permit from the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) as well as a Certificate of Use Tax from the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration (CDTFA).
The Type 82 Direct Wine Shipper Permit is easy to obtain as it’s a one-time application fee of $105 for the winery, as well as $25 annually after that. The consumer does not pay this fee. Additional fees for the retailer include sales tax at 7.25 percent, and the excise tax is $0.20 per gallon, or $0.30 per gallon for sparkling wine
There are no quantity limits on wine shipped to residents in California, so you can receive as many cases as you want without any issues. The only stipulation for shipping wine directly in California is that the package must have a label with the words, “Contains alcohol: signature of a person age 21 years or older required for delivery.”
When the package is received, you must show a valid ID proving that you are 21 years or older, or you won’t receive your shipment. Overall, getting wine delivered in California is incredibly easy.
Wine clubs that ship to California
There aren’t a lot of restrictions on receiving wine from wine clubs as a California resident, as we explained above.
Since California’s alcohol shipping laws are so lax, pretty much every wine club will ship to this state. Here are a few of the best clubs to get wine from:
1. Firstleaf Wine Club
You can easily receive wine from Firstleaf if you are a California resident. They are based in Napa, so if you want to take the trek there, they have retail locations you can purchase from as well if you would rather have an in-person experience.
For your first shipment, Firstleaf gives you a discount of 60 percent off, so you can really get a good feel for the club without making a huge financial commitment. You can receive as much wine as you want from Firstleaf as a California resident.
To personalize your box, you can choose all red, white, or a combination of both styles of wine, depending on your personal preferences. For the best results, you can fill out a questionnaire from Firstleaf so they can understand what kind of wines you prefer.
To further understand your preferences, you can give feedback on the wines you’ve tried, so Firstleaf can continue to send the wines that you really like. If you aren’t satisfied with a bottle you received, Firstleaf will give you a full refund and record that you didn’t like it, so they will not send it again.
This is a great subscripiton if you’re really looking to learn about the local wine scene in California. They have a ton of wine from other regions in stock, but they really specialize in Californian bottles.
Additionally, the selection at Firstleaf is immense – you can receive wine from five continents and 12 different countries for $15 or less per bottle.
2. Naked Wines Wine Club
Similarly to Firstleaf, Naked Wines will ship to California without any issues whatsoever, other than the fact that someone who’s at least 21 will need to sign for the package.
A little about Naked Wines – this wine club was founded by wine enthusiasts passionate about independent winemakers, so you are supporting smaller businesses when you use Naked Wines. Naked Wines purchases directly from independent wineries, allowing you to save up to 60 percent off retail prices.
The wine selection is extremely high quality, as 150 of the bottles offered on the site have won gold medal awards from prestigious competitions such as the International Wine & Spirits Competition.
There isn’t any quantity limit on how much wine you can receive from Naked Wines, so you can really get to know their selection if you want to.
Naked Wines is a great club to use if you are looking for wines that are slightly different from what you might find on a store shelf. There’s also a review page that allows you to see what others are saying about each bottle of wine, allowing you to find bottles that you’ll like more easily.
3. Winc Wine Club
As we have learned throughout this article, receiving wine in the mail in California is extremely easy, including from Winc.
When you sign up, Winc asks you to answer six questions in order to really understand the flavors you like, then makes recommendations based on your preferences. Like many other wine clubs, you then rate the wines you’ve tried, so that Winc can further cater to your tastes, or eliminate bottles from future shipments.
Members also get 10 percent off shipments of 12 or more bottles. If you are looking for savings, Winc has an entire selection of wine under $20 per bottle, and they go beyond offering just red and white wine. They also offer rose, sparking wine, cider, and even vegan options.
Additional wine clubs that ship to California
As we have discovered, the alcohol shipping laws in California are quite relaxed, so finding a wine club that will ship to this state is incredibly easy. In fact, it’s more difficult to find a club that won’t ship to this state, as there aren’t many roadblocks.
There are plenty of wine clubs that reside within the state of California, so if you are looking to really get to know the wine grown in your home region, there are heaps of options.
Here are a few other wine clubs that will send wine to California:
- Plonk Wine Club
- California Premier Club
- Sunset Wine Club
- International Premier Club
- SomMailier Wine Club
- High-End California Club
- Aged Cabernet Series
- Decanter Wine Club
- WSJ
- Bright Cellars
- Vinesse
How to order wine online in California
It’s incredibly simple to ship wine within the state of California.
The biggest stipulation California residents must know is that they must label to box containing wine saying, “Contains alcohol: signature of a person age 21 years or older required for delivery.” From there, a person 21 years or older must present a valid ID to receive the package, or it will not be received.
No communities have made it illegal to ship wine within California so that you can ship anywhere within the state without any problems. Overall, shipping and receiving wine in California is very simple.
Wine retailers that deliver to California
Since the alcohol shipping laws in California are so lax, there are many retailers that will ship wine to the state of California.
Like the wine clubs, there are many retailers to choose from. Here are a few of the most popular options:
- Total Wine
- BevMo
- Henri’s Reserve
- Ninety Cellars
- Organic Wine Exchange
- One-Stop Wine Shop
- My Natural Wine Club
- SomMailier
- Usual
- Gloria Ferrer
- BuyWinesOnline.com
- Cameron Hughes
- Kind of Wild
- Vivino
- Wine Insiders
Conclusion
Wine shipping laws are extremely lenient in California, so shipping wine is incredibly easy, as we have discovered. The only thing residents of California must worry about is properly labeling packages that contain alcohol, but in most cases, the retailer or wine club will know to take care of this for you.
There are no limits in regards to the quantity of wine the retailer can ship to a resident of California, so you can order as much wine as you want as often as you would like.
Many wine clubs and retailers send wine to the state of California, so the options are virtually endless. California is an amazing state for wine lovers to receive wine as there are very few restrictions as well as the close proximity to amazing wine regions like the Napa Valley.
About the author
I’m a resident of Orange County, California originally hailing from Pennsylvania, so I’m a huge fan of Philadelphia-based sports teams. Some of my loves are my family (including my husband, one-year-old son, pit bull, and dachshund), animals, writing, working out, and all forms of alcohol especially wine. I worked at BevMo for over five years, so I definitely know my way around beer, spirits and wine. I am very passionate about wine and am a huge fan of all styles, but I have a soft spot for a great Sauvignon Blanc on a hot day. A fun fact about me is that I love hedgehogs and dogs, and I spend as much time as I can volunteering for animal rescues.