Amazon Introduces Its Wine Shop Just In Time For The Holidays

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Get ready wine lovers, Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) announced on Thursday it is offering a new marketplace with “more than a thousand wines” from across a selection of U.S wineries.

Called Amazon Wine, the company said in a press release the online wine store will include easy-to-use shopping tools to assist customers in exploring great wines and obtaining details from winemakers, including tasting notes, recommended food pairings, and total case production.

Amazon Introduces Its Wine Shop Just In Time For The Holidays

Peter Faricy, Vice President of Amazon Marketplace, said of the store, “Whether it’s helping customers find a favorite variety, shop for holiday pairings or expand their cellar with a special hand-crafted bottle, we’re excited to provide the right tools and information needed to guide them to the perfect wine. We’re thrilled for wineries around the country to share their great collections of wines with our customers through the Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) Wine Store.”

At this time with the marketplace in beta, customers can order wines straight from a winery through Amazon, who will then be able to ship up to six bottles for $9.99. For Amazon Prime members, it looks like the free, fast shipping won’t work in this case.

According to CNET, a closer look at the site shows that the wineries operate under their own permits and then decide which states they are able ship to. Currently, the list of eligible state is small: California, Connecticut, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Nevada, North Carolina, Oregon, Washington, Wyoming, and Washington, D.C.

Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) said the list will expand soon.

For the online giant, this isn’t the first time it has created plans for an online wine marketplace. Back in 2008, the wineries had discussed their plans with Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) for online winery sales, reported CNET, but the retailer put its plans on hold in 2009.

This time, it is really going to launch and it will go up against sites such as Wine.com, Wine Library, and TastingRoom.com, as well as numerous small online wine retailers across the country. It could also have an impact on startups, such as Lot18.

Amazon’s winemakers are excited about the site and believe consumers will enjoy the details.

Tom Hedges of Hedges Family Estate in Red Mountain, Wash. said via Amazon’s press release,”People love to explore wine, but it is rare to have detailed information and opinions located all in one place. What Amazon has done with their new wine store is take the experience of hundreds of tasting rooms and put them online.”

As for Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), it’s already been a busy fall with the launch of its Kindle Paperwhite and its new Kindle Fire. On Oct. 25, the company announced third quarter earnings, which included a 27% increase in net sales.

Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)  is currently down 1.13% and is trading at $229.49.

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