Can a winery in California sell direct to a restaurant in Minnesota?
Are there creative ways to get legal distribution for an ongoing relationship? Are wineries interested in these types of things or is it too much of a hassle?
What I have done in the past is talk to the restaurant who wants your wine, and ask them if they have a distributor who will “pass the transaction through”. Generally, if they have a good relationship with a distributor, the distributor will do all the work to get your wine in through them, and charge a small fee (rather than the normal distribution/retailer markups).
i suppose that if a winery had a Wine Club and the proprietor of a restaurant was a member of the Wine Club that he could purchase wine directly from the winery and place it on his wine list.
not that i’ve ever heard of something like that taking place.
agreed. i’m not sure of the ins-and-outs of the laws as they vary state to state. i know that in CA sometimes wineries who use distributors/brokers may have “house accounts” (e.g. restaurants, wine bars) which they service directly (billing, deliveries, etc.).
I do that the reason we can do it in CA is that wine wine is made in CA. With a winery type 02 bond you can sell direct to consumers, restaurants, wine shops in the state. Though most still use brokers, distributors, etc for many reasons. Out of state is another matter entirely as its got to go thru the 3-4 tier system for restaurants, wine shops. There is another set of permits for direct shipping to consumers.
Correct. The only direct to trade state I have looked in to was AZ a few years back and we did not more forward though I don’t recall specifics as to exactly why.