You won't be getting happy-faced cardboard boxes filled with cases of wine any time soon, because apparently Amazon.com has decided to end its dalliance with wine delivery. After launching a trial program in March 2008, the online retailer has shelved AmazonWine.
The news sent wine blogs into a tizzy about how the promise of widespread access to small-scale wineries never materialized. Vinography contends that financial difficulties at Amazon's potential fulfillment partner, New Vine Logistics, hurt prospects for a wide roll-out. Dr. Vino suggests that is was the two-punch combination of restrictive shipping regulations and a flagging economy that doomed the Amazon's foray into wine sales:
The intractable logjam was the interstate shipping laws that govern interstate wine shipping.... Given the economics of shipping wine, the company may have been targeting higher-priced bottles. In that regard, the economic backdrop didn't help the plan as high-end wine sales have softened in the past year.
When Amazon introduced its plans in 2008, some observers thought that the online retailer might be the company to solve the problem of interstate wine shipping. Wine-selling is one of the few industries that's not conducive to online shopping because of a mix of state laws that, in some cases, are holdovers from Prohibition.
If one of the world's most efficient distribution centers can't figure out how to effectively and profitably distribute wine, such an option will not be forthcoming any time soon. But it's a win for local, independent wine retailers, who are the best ones to help customers understand which wines are worth getting anyway.
[Image via Flickr: le capiot]
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