How to Mail Homemade Wine

Shipping homemade wine comes with specific restrictions.

From Zinfandels to Merlot, you can send homemade wine as a personal gift or as part of a business transaction. Both UPS and FedEx have specific packaging and labeling rules for sending wine, which may deter many individuals who are hoping to send a small amount. Many states have more specific restrictions from county to county, and various quantity limits are in effect nationally. Carefully plan before shipping to ensure that your homemade wine gets to its destination.

Things You'll Need

• Sturdy packaging
• Approved FedEx shipping label

Instructions

1. Become licensed to ship wine. Those shipping homemade wine must go through the same legalities as wine retailers. Anyone hoping to ship homemade wine must become a licensed alcohol wholesaler, distributor, dealer, manufacturer, retailer or importer. After becoming licensed, apply for a Direct Shipper license through your state.

2. Become authorized to ship wine. If you want to ship wine from your address, UPS requires that you fill out the Agreement for Approved Wine Shippers contract or the Wine Industry Fulfillment House Agreement for Approved Wine Shippers. An approved third party vendor, such as the downloadable software WorldShip, can provide automatically approved labels and the added convenience of personalizing orders.

   When shipping through FedEx, becoming authorized to ship wine involves registering for a FedEx account number and printing an alcohol-specific label. You can print labels through the FedEx Ship Manager® electronic shipping solution at FedEx Stores. You must sign the FedEx Alcohol Shipping Agreement, which certifies that you are sending the wine as specified, and only to regions and individuals that are considered legal.

3. Use secure, protective packaging. Enclose molded Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) foam, a folded corrugated tray or a molded fiber tray inside a sturdy cardboard container. Keeping the bottle away from the sides of the box protects the wine from shattering.

4. Know county- and state-specific regulations. There are some limitations on where you can send wine. Dry counties abound in some areas and will not accept wine shipments. Texas, Mississipi, Kentucky, Virginia, Kansas, Arkansas and Alabama have an especially high number of dry counties, while other states do not have nearly as many. When sending your package, ask if the county will allow for wine shipment or if pickup must be arranged in a nearby country.

   Be aware of quantity restrictions on the amount of alcohol you can send to a certain address. North Dakota, Nebraska and Tennessee have a limit of nine liters per month, while Kansas, Maine, Nevada and Wisconsin have a limit of 144 bottles per year.

5. Plan for delivery. Ensure that the recipient is aware of the shipment. A government-issued photo ID card is required for validation of the recipient's age. If the recipient is not 21, the wine will be sent back to the sender--even if it is not addressed to the person who received the package. To avoid this inconvenience, the UPS store can arrange for packages to be held at UPS centers instead of delivered to a specific address. Ask for the UPS "Hold for Pickup" service. If sending through FedEx, you can pay an extra fee and change the delivery location even after the package has already been sent. Ask for the package to be rerouted.

Tips & Warnings

• Do not send alcohol via regular postage mail. Sending alcoholic beverages in the mail is strictly prohibited. If alcohol is detected during processing, the package will not be sent to its destination.

References

• FedEx: Wine Shipping
• UPS: Shipping Wine
• My Wines Direct: State Regulations
• Alcohol Problems and Solutions: Dry Counties
• FedEx Wine Shipping: Who Can Ship Wine and to Whom
• USPS: Aviation Mail Security & Hazardous Materials.