Legal and How-To Question

[Wade E]

If you have a filling wand which costs about $3.00 it will leave the perfec amount of headspace everytime. It really is a neat little tool.
http://www.finevinewines.com/p-978-4861.aspx

 

[sly22guy]

I used to leave bout an inch but it bothered me that the shrink top wouldnt cover it so now i only leave bout a 1/4" thats still ok isn't it?

 

[JohnT]

as a guage, I leave about 'one finger'.

 

[homer]

Your worrying about badges showing up because you ship a couple of bottles of home brew, most of the dope in this country is shipped by by UPS and Fed Ex. Of coarse I have no first hand experience at this. bk

 

[Julie]

Your worrying about badges showing up because you ship a couple of bottles of home brew, most of the dope in this country is shipped by by UPS and Fed Ex. Of coarse I have no first hand experience at this. bk

Well, I don't think the worry is so much of having badges show up, I'm sure you will get a fine if you ship usps but I believe the most worry that it will be confiscated and it will never get to the desire destination

 

[CARBOY]

Mailing homemade wine

I must say that I am still confused about mailing my wines. I was declined mailing at several USPS and then had no problem at anothers. Seven different postmasters with two different answers. The USPS that shipped my wine indicated that the restrictions only applied to 0.5% or higher AND taxable. So since my wine was not taxable; it was OK. I later went to the USPS web site and searched restricted items with the following results:

Index
Note: Any item with an asterisk (*) is NONMAILABLE under any conditions.

Intoxicating liquors, 42
42 Intoxicating Liquors
421 Definition
Intoxicating liquors are drinkable beverages that have 0.5 percent or more alcoholic content by weight and are taxable under chapter 51 of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Code.

Since no asterisk was indicated in the USPS index item 42, then item 42 does not fall under NONMAILABLE under any conditions.

I have also encountered the dont ask dont tell scenario as well as having no problem when I list contents being fragile glass and/or kitchen supplies. Maybe I need to read IRS title 51? Maybe USPS emplyees are not fully knowledgable? I would like to know for sure. On my next visit to my local winery I plan to discuss this topic as well as more reading/ inquiries. I bottled my white wine from homegrown grapes and shipped two bottles without a hitch last month.
Just my 2-cents.

 

[PPBart]

... Seven different postmasters with two different answers... maybe I need to read IRS title 51?...

A friend works at the local post office, and she tells me that I absolutely cannot ship my wine thru USPS(!) Perhaps I need to print out the regs and review them with her.

 

[ibglowin]

Pretty sure you are required to list something down on that piece of paper you fill out at either FedEx or UPS. They like to know what is inside in case it starts leaking for one reason or another so they know whether or not to call out a HAZMAT Team. Unfortunately you can't say it is wine as you do indeed have to be a licensed bonded winery in order to legally ship wine.

However there is no law against shipping Steak Marinade. I shipped several boxes of Steak Marinade over the holidays w/o incident.

 

[ibglowin]

And absolutely do not ship via USPS.

 

[Andy419]

I work with (not for, thankfully) the USPS every day (my company mails over 1 billion pcs of mail per year). Knowing them as I do, I am not surprised that you received multiple answers on the same question. Anyway, the Domestic Mail Manual is pretty specific that anything over 0.5% ABW is taxable and not shippable. Text of DMM section 601.12.8 is below.


Domestic Mail Manual Part601
12.8 Intoxicating Liquor
A potable beverage is nonmailable if it is of 0.5% or more alcoholic content by weight, which is taxable under Chapter 51, Internal Revenue Service Code. The product may be mailed if it conforms to applicable requirements of the Internal Revenue Service and Food and Drug Administration and is not an alcoholic beverage, poisonous, or flammable.

 

[PPBart]

Here's a quote from Publication 52, "Hazardous, Restricted, and Perishable Mail":

422.11 Intoxicating Liquors. Intoxicating liquors having 0.5 percent or more alcoholic content are nonmailable... The prohibition of the mailing of intoxicating liquors is contained in federal law (18 U.S.C. 1716).
...
422.21 Products Not Categorized as Intoxicating Liquors. A product cotaining an intoxicating liquor is mailable if it conforms to the applicable requirements of the IRS and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and if it is not a taxable alcoholic beverage, poisonous, or flammable.

The following are examples of products that may be mailable:
a. Cold remedies
b. Cooking wine
c. Mouthwash

So maybe you could get away with shipping "cooking wine" thru USPS(?)

 

[djrockinsteve]

and you can show the Federal Judge this at your trial. Maybe offer him/her a bottle of your wine.

 

[PPBart]

and you can show the Federal Judge this at your trial. Maybe offer him/her a bottle of your wine.

LOL! I don't think I'll tempt fate that far; only rarely do I have any reason/need to ship wine by any means... but it does seem curious that "cooking wine" would be treated differently. Anybody know why that exception is there?

 

[Andy419]

I can't find anything specifically from the USPS on how they define cooking wine, but some Google searches came up with cooking wine being wine treated with salt as a preservative. I did find the below which I found very interesting.

422.22 Exempt Mailings Between Federal and State Agencies
Intoxicating liquor is exempt from the prohibition against mailing when it is sent between employees of federal or state agencies who have an official use for the liquor, such as for testing purposes. This exemption is based on the intent of the law to prevent liquor from being transported to prohibited jurisdictions for consumption and to ensure that all proper tax revenues are paid


Do you think holiday parties are an offical use?

 

[sly22guy]

Its a federal offense to ship it through the mail! Fedex, & Ups Ground is not! They might just seize your package. But no violations. Why would you even consider trying to send through the mail? Just ship Fedex Ground or Ups Ground and package well, so they don't clink against each other and can handle being dropped or drop kicked (know a couple guys that work for fedex you should hear the stories). No one ever asks what your shipping anyhow.

 

[n2tazmania]

So, I can ship my buddy some Nyquil to get drunk on just because I paid sales tax on it..... This country is so out of whack!!!

 

[Bailey]

So, I can ship my buddy some Nyquil to get drunk on just because I paid sales tax on it..... This country is so out of whack!!!

Maybe we should just drop the subject before some wise a$$ politician gets the idea they can tax the alcohol, require a permit, restrict the fermentation of.....