Given CA's stance on self preservation I know that most of us only reluctantly step foot on CA soil but they do have some good wines. As such the wife and I have a trip to Napa later this month and are trying to get a definitive word on how to get some back to Indiana safely and without paying an arm and a leg. Anyone have experience in this area?
So far we've discovered that Indiana [STRIKE]has[/STRIKE]had one of the most complex and restrictive wine shipping laws. Most problematically we can't simply ship it to ourselves via UPS or FedEx. According to our interpretation the wineries should be able to ship directly to us as we will be there in person. Research is revealing that a lot of the wineries simply exclude Indiana as they likely don't want to deal with the restrictions.
That has lead us to look at third party shippers. While they claim to be able to ship it appears to be nearly $100 for a case (12) of 750ml wine bottles.
Another suggestion we've seen is taking the wine on the plane with us as checked baggage. This is appealing as it would be less expensive than any of the shipping options but the downside is the airlines wash their hands of any liability for damaging the bottles even if packed properly. We've looked into the lost/damaged luggage benefit for our credit card and on one interpretation it would cover the wine, but in another it would not. I'm sure it would turn into an argument should the wine not make it back to Indiana in tact.
So far we've discovered that Indiana [STRIKE]has[/STRIKE]had one of the most complex and restrictive wine shipping laws. Most problematically we can't simply ship it to ourselves via UPS or FedEx. According to our interpretation the wineries should be able to ship directly to us as we will be there in person. Research is revealing that a lot of the wineries simply exclude Indiana as they likely don't want to deal with the restrictions.
That has lead us to look at third party shippers. While they claim to be able to ship it appears to be nearly $100 for a case (12) of 750ml wine bottles.
Another suggestion we've seen is taking the wine on the plane with us as checked baggage. This is appealing as it would be less expensive than any of the shipping options but the downside is the airlines wash their hands of any liability for damaging the bottles even if packed properly. We've looked into the lost/damaged luggage benefit for our credit card and on one interpretation it would cover the wine, but in another it would not. I'm sure it would turn into an argument should the wine not make it back to Indiana in tact.
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