The Kids Are Alright

Groundbreaking study shows opponents of wine shipping have been lying

For decades —literally decades—the opponents of a consumer’s ability to have wine shipped to them have claimed in a hysterical fashion that if interstate wine shipments are allowed, minors will buy and receive wine via internet purchases and shipments. We’ve always known this is a false claim and a pretext to oppose interstate wine shipments to protect wholesalers’ and retailers’ bottom lines.

Now the evidence is in. Minors simply don’t buy alcohol online in the kind of numbers that should concern anyone, let alone provide the rationale for restricting alcohol shipments.

In a study produced by VinoShipper, which provides online point-of-sales services for wineries and retailers, the company looked at three years worth of transaction data (2020 -2022). Using data from more than 2,000 clients and 634,000 attempted online purchases, VinoShipper reports that no more than 934 of those transactions were determined to be originated by minors under 21 years of age. This amounts to 0.15% of all transactions in a three-year period: