Back in November of last year, Amazon launched the Amazon Wine Marketplace. It would be wrong to say that they did so quietly – they announced it, and it received moderate coverage. But for some reason it just seemed like it launched, and then we kind of forgot about it. Maybe that’s just me. For shame.
Anyway, it’s still in beta. But today, Amazon has announced the addition of a major state to the mix. Amazon Wine is messing with Texas.
“We’re very excited for Texas wineries to share their highly-ranked selection with our millions of customers through the Amazon Wine store,” said Peter Faricy, vice president for Amazon Marketplace. “Our customers tell us they enjoy our wine-country selection combined with the convenience of finding detailed wine information in one place. We want to connect customers with wineries around the country and provide a destination where they can learn about and purchase wines directly from wineries on the platform they trust.”
Adding Texas to the list of available states means two things. First, wine drinkers in Texas will be able to ship wine directly to their doors. And second and more importantly (for the rest of us), Amazon Wine customers will be able to purchase wines from Texas – including Messina Hof, Becker Vineyards, McPherson Cellars, Brennan Vineyards and Llano Estacado, among others.
As of now, Amazon WIne boasts 350+ wineries and 2,200+ labels.
Amazon Wine puts most of the work on the wineries, who process and ship all of the orders. “When you order wine on Amazon.com, you’re ordering directly from a winery,” says Amazon. And due to that, there are only a handful of states that allow customers to receive intrastate wine transactions.
Amazon started out with 12 states back in November, and have since added a few more. As of today, Amazon Wine is available in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Nebraska, Nevada, North Carolina, Oregon, South Carolina, Texas, Washington, Wyoming, and the District of Columbia.
Amazon Wine offers enthusiasts the ability to browse by region, wine style, price, pairings, and more. It also offers a wine mailing list. According to the company, more states will follow.