Bordeaux Wine Enthusiasts

I was about to order a case of wine from Saratoga Wine Exchange in upstate NY today. The last one I bought a month ago had a corked bottle that they are prepared to replace at no charge.
Except that they stopped shipping to Connecticut in the interim. I thought CT allowed out of state retailers to ship here but apparently not.
I've seen this happening around the country with FedEx and UPS under pressure from State Attorneys General and it's finally hit home.
Now I have to pay NY sales tax and either travel 2.25 hrs each way to get my wine or ship it to my "stepmother's" house in Phoenicia, NY and wait for my dad to bring it back to me when he returns from spending the weekend at her place.

Connecticut has a suite of laws designed the push the productive and contributing out.

It's so many little things, just layered on top of each other.

And that is mostly the local distributors ganging up to stop competition. It's not like the state is that motivated. They're just basically outsourcing their enforcement to Southern/Martignetti whoever who then pressure UPS/FedEx.

I'll have to pay the NY 7% sales tax this way but CT still won't get any money out of me. AFAIK, only one of the wines is available to me locally.
My "stepmother" (for the last 7 years) already told me its ok to send the wine to her house. Maybe that's not such a good idea after all.

Chris - while I live in Sparkill NY, I currently work in Greenwich CT so you could also ship to me and then I could meet you somewhere in CT to handoff if that makes things easier. I on the other hand am boycotting Saratoga as they are some of the worst offenders with their full fledged secondary market Bourbon pricing.

jckba wrote:Chris - while I live in Sparkill NY, I currently work in Greenwich CT so you could also ship to me and then I could meet you somewhere in CT to handoff if that makes things easier...

Thanks for the offer.

I think the arrangement with dad and his wife will work fine. I added a bottle of Picpoul to my order to bribe to them with.
Dad sublets space in my shop for his own fabrication projects so I see him many times each week, and he travels to upstate NY every weekend. At most I'll have to wait a few days longer than if it was shipped direct.

I have a friend in far upstate, so if I actually had to travel to get wine from SWE I think I would arrange a visit to my friend and stop there along the way home. Of course I'd have to get at least 2 cases since its not a trip I would make often.

Racer Chris wrote:I have a friend in far upstate, so if I actually had to travel to get wine from SWE I think I would arrange a visit to my friend and stop there along the way home. Of course I'd have to get at least 2 cases since its not a trip I would make often.

In the true spirit of BWEism, any impediment can be turned into a reason to buy more wine.