By Jules Polonetsky

If you live in one of the major U.S. Jewish population centers, you benefit from kosher wine retailers who will deliver for free or for a nominal cost. If you can visit your local store, I certainly encourage supporting local businesses, and some store staff can be invaluable experts and guides. Recent court decisions have also made it easier for wineries to ship nationally, and supporting wineries directly is one of the best ways to ensure your favorite winemakers succeed. Across the country, varying state alcohol laws have historically complicated online shopping and interstate delivery. COVID-19 shook up the market, prompting a wider range of kosher retailers to navigate these regulatory hurdles. Reforms are still needed to make this process easier, but the kosher consumer today has a much wider range of options to explore.

And indeed, exploration is needed. Most shoppers are now conditioned to free or deeply discounted shipping, conditioned by Amazon, Instacart and other large businesses that benefit from economies of scale that enable them to operate at narrow margins. Kosher wine retailers lack that luxury, yet they face similar pressure to offer free or discounted shipping. The savvy consumer should realize that there is no free “l’chaim” to be had, as retailers need to eke out some profit to succeed. My research suggests it takes a bit of street smarts to secure the best deals. This requires filling up your shopping cart and comparing the actual checkout pricing, rather than chasing the shipping deal that is promoted. Free shipping often means that the cost of the actual bottles is higher, wiping out any savings.

The chart below shows pricing at a number of the leading online retailers. A number of these online retailers are actually extensions of retail stores and are primarily seeking to widen their delivery zones, so the free or deeply discounted delivery is limited to their city or state.

KosherWine.com, the biggest online-only retailer, is usually my starting point for shopping as a Mid-Atlantic resident, as they have by far the broadest selection, and they often have exclusive wines bottled for them, reasonable prices and are highly reliable. Crucially, they are attentive to ensuring that the vintage displayed is the vintage shipped, a quite important detail when I am seeking a wine that performed well a specific year, or when I want a fresh white or rose.

A new entrant in the national market is Florida-based Elk Wine, led by renowned kosher wine expert Elchonon Hellinger, who until recently shipped only locally. Elk’s $15 flat fee caught my attention as did his deep collection of aged wines and wines from niche boutique wineries. Check before ordering, as his recent shipping pricing increases may indicate that he is still testing his pricing strategy. Don’t miss the “Connoisseurs Corner” at IDrinkKosher.com for advice and recommendations from wine expert Zev Steinberg.

Kosher Wine Shipping Cost Comparison

Analysis

Shipping policy in this category generally falls into two camps; those that gate free shipping behind a minimum bottle count and those that utilize a total dollar spent. IDrinkKosher refuses to play the “free shipping” game at all, arguing it’s baked into bottle price instead. For the chart above, I noted shipping prices, but also tested the total charge based on three bottles of a popular quality wine, including any handling fees, taxes assessed for Maryland and the cheapest shipping option offered.

Pro-tips: Many sites operate with referrals and affiliates. Check whether you know any wine expert who has a discount code to offer you. Some popular podcasters and kosher bloggers also publicize their codes or will share upon request, providing an additional 5% off or more. Note also that some sites seem cheaper because they aren’t charging sales tax, in theory leaving the buyer on the hook in many jurisdictions that mandate sales tax for online sales. Other issues that matter include how the merchant handles shipping in hot weather, storage facilities, refund policies, customer service and more. Given space limitations here, I will post additional information about those issues in the upcoming week at my wine education site, kosher-wine.org.

L’Chaim!

Jules Polonetsky is a Wine and Spirits Education Trust Level 3 certified wine expert who edits a wine education website at kosher-wine.org. He is a former consumers affairs commissioner for New York City.