Amazon To Enter Wine Business

Amazon is starting to sell wine to US customers and according to FT.com, is currently trying to recruit a senior wine buyer who will be responsible for “the acquisition of the new massive product selection”.

In the US, online alcohol sales is a difficult market since there are a multitude of laws in different states. But maybe now is a time to jump on the train for a lot of wine retailers since the US Supreme Court ruled in 2005 that state governments are not able to prohibit residents from ordering from out-of-state wineries.

The Amazon giant invested $30 million into Wine Shopper ( 1999 ) – but the site only lasted one year ( autsch ). The current Wine Sales for 2007 totaled $30 billion in the US – I wonder how the gallon of gas compares to wine.