Shipping Wine and Alcohol: State Laws and Carrier Policies

Here is a fact that surprises most people: shipping alcohol through the United States Postal Service is a federal crime. Title 18, Section 1716 of the US Code explicitly prohibits mailing alcoholic beverages through USPS, and this applies to everything from a bottle of cheap wine to a case of rare bourbon. There are no exceptions for personal use, gifts, or small quantities.

Yet millions of bottles of wine, beer, and spirits are shipped legally across the country every year. The key word is legally — it happens through UPS and FedEx under a specific framework of federal law, state regulations, and carrier agreements that all have to align for a shipment to be lawful. Understanding this framework is not optional. Getting it wrong can result in confiscated shipments, carrier account termination, and actual legal liability.

The Three Layers of Alcohol Shipping Law

Alcohol shipping in the US sits at the intersection of three regulatory systems, and all three must permit your shipment for it to be legal.

Federal law, specifically the 21st Amendment to the Constitution, gives individual states the authority to regulate alcohol within their borders. This is why a bottle of wine can legally be shipped to California but not to Utah — each state makes its own rules. The Federal Alcohol Administration Act and the Lacey Act add additional requirements around labeling, interstate transport, and commercial licensing.

State law determines whether direct-to-consumer alcohol shipments are allowed, what types of alcohol can be shipped (many states allow wine but prohibit spirits), whether the shipper needs a state-specific license, and what reporting and tax obligations apply. These rules change regularly — states modify their DTC shipping laws almost every legislative session, and keeping current requires ongoing attention.

Carrier policy adds the final layer. Both UPS and FedEx have chosen to restrict alcohol shipping to licensed businesses with signed carrier agreements specifically authorizing alcohol shipments. You cannot walk into a UPS Store with a bottle of wine and ship it. Individual consumers cannot ship alcohol through either carrier.

Who Can Legally Ship Alcohol

The list of who can ship alcohol is shorter than most people expect. Licensed wineries, breweries, and distilleries can ship directly to consumers in states where DTC shipping is permitted, provided they hold the appropriate licenses in both the originating and destination states. Licensed retailers can ship in states that allow retailer DTC shipping, though fewer states permit this than permit winery DTC shipping.

To get started, you need a federal basic permit from the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, commonly known as the TTB. You also need state licenses for every state you ship from and to. Then you need a signed alcohol shipping agreement with UPS, FedEx, or both.

The UPS alcohol shipping agreement requires you to be a licensed shipper, to use UPS-approved packaging, to include age verification at delivery (an adult signature is mandatory), and to comply with all applicable state laws. FedEx has nearly identical requirements. Both carriers limit alcohol shipments to their premium services — you cannot ship alcohol via UPS SurePost or FedEx Ground Economy because those services use USPS for last-mile delivery, and USPS cannot handle alcohol.

The State-by-State Reality

This is where alcohol shipping gets genuinely complicated. Every state has its own rules, and they vary dramatically.

Some states like California, Oregon, and Washington have permissive DTC shipping laws that allow wineries and in some cases retailers to ship wine, beer, and spirits directly to consumers with proper licensing. These states have large wine-producing industries and have liberalized their laws to support direct sales.

Other states allow wine shipments but prohibit beer and spirits. States like New York, Virginia, and Texas fall into this category — you can ship a case of wine but not a bottle of whiskey to a consumer in these states.

A handful of states effectively prohibit all DTC alcohol shipments. Utah, Mississippi, and a few others either ban DTC shipping outright or impose requirements so restrictive that compliance is impractical for most businesses.

Several states require the shipper to hold a specific in-state license. This means a California winery that wants to ship to consumers in thirty states might need thirty separate state licenses, each with its own application process, fees, and reporting requirements. Services like ShipCompliant and Sovos help wineries manage this compliance burden, but the licensing costs can run several thousand dollars annually.

Packaging and Labeling Requirements

Both UPS and FedEx require alcohol to be packaged in carrier-approved containers. This typically means a corrugated outer box with molded pulp or foam inserts that hold each bottle securely and prevent bottle-to-bottle contact. Wine shippers — the corrugated inserts specifically designed for wine bottles — are widely available and cost one to three dollars per unit.

Every bottle must be sealed and labeled according to TTB requirements. The outer shipping box must be marked to indicate it contains alcohol, though carriers prefer that this marking not be too prominent to avoid theft. Most shippers use a small compliance sticker rather than printing "CONTAINS ALCOHOL" in large letters across the box.

The delivery itself requires an adult signature. Both UPS and FedEx enforce this by flagging alcohol shipments in their system so that drivers will not leave the package without verifying the recipient is 21 or older. This means someone must be present at delivery, which can lead to failed delivery attempts and redelivery costs. FedEx Hold at Location and UPS Access Point Delivery are alternatives that let the recipient pick up the package at a nearby retail location, reducing failed delivery rates.

Cost Considerations

Alcohol shipping is more expensive than shipping comparable non-alcohol packages for several reasons. The mandatory adult signature adds a surcharge of five to seven dollars per package. The special packaging adds one to four dollars. The premium service requirements (no economy services allowed) mean you are paying Ground or Express rates rather than the cheapest available option.

For a standard six-bottle wine shipment weighing roughly 20 pounds, expect to pay 18 to 30 dollars for ground service within a few states and 35 to 60 dollars for cross-country shipments. These costs make free shipping challenging for wine clubs and DTC wine businesses unless the order value is high enough to absorb the expense.

Shipping platforms like atoship that compare rates across UPS and FedEx can help find the cheapest compliant option for each shipment, which matters when you are shipping hundreds of cases monthly and even a dollar or two per shipment adds up to meaningful savings.