How to buy alcohol online and where to shop

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How to buy alcohol online and where to shop

Insider Picks writes about products and services to help you navigate when shopping online. Insider Inc. receives a commission from our affiliate partners when you buy through our links, but our reporting and recommendations are always independent and objective.

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  • All online orders of alcohol in the US must be submitted by, shipped to, and received by an adult who is 21 years or older.
  • Not all states allow for alcohol to be delivered, and many regions have statutes limiting alcohol delivery, so check your state's laws before you shop.
  • Here is how to buy alcohol online and get your favorite wine, beer, or spirits delivered to your door conveniently and, better yet, legally.
  • We like Naked Wines, Harry & David, and Wine.com for wine; Tavour and Carftshack for beer; Reserve Bar for spirits; and Drizly for same-day delivery.

If you live in Alabama, Oklahoma, or Utah, you might as well hop to a different article, as these states have outright bans in booze deliveries to private people. If you live in Mississippi, it's kind of a gray area. Alcohol delivery is not banned, but also not specified as legal.

In almost all other states, wine deliveries are perfectly legal, though they will require an adult signature in most places. AZ, DC, DE, FL, HI, OH, OR, MA, MO, NE, NH, ND, and VT expressly permit beer delivery, while only AZ, FL, HI, NE, and NH "authorize the direct shipment of all spirits," as stated by the National Conference of State Legislatures' Direct Shipment of Alcohol Statutes page.

When in doubt, take the time to consult your state and local laws on booze shipment and delivery. But unless you're in AL, OK, or UT, you're probably good to go. We've broken down how to buy alcohol online and the best places to order from. You can also check out our guide to the best wine delivery subscription services.

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Here are the best places to buy alcohol online:

Read on in the slides below to learn how to buy alcohol online and the best places to order from.

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How to order wine online

How to order wine online

Wine is about the easiest booze to order online for delivery directly to your home or workplace. There are many places that do it, but we decided to stick with three tried and true options that we've used.

Wine.com

Wine.com has a vast selection of wines, and the site organizes its bottles cleanly by Varietal, Region, Featured offers, and Gift ideas. They also cleverly curate the site by legal restriction; put in UT as your ship to location, for example, and all the booze disappears, leaving behind wine glasses, insulated beverage backpacks, and so forth.

Click here to order wine online from Wine.com Harry & David

If you want to order or send some delectable foodstuffs along with your wine, Harry & David has long been a great place to do it. You can order everything from soup to steak to sweets, and you can add a bottle of vino or two or three to all of those orders. Or you can sign up for a wine club and send multiple bottles with a thoughtful theme.

Click here to order wine online from Harry & David Naked Wines

If you are more concerned with good wine at a good price and aren't as hung up on consistently getting the same wines, then check out Naked Wines. You can join at a monthly rate of $40 and enjoy up to 60% savings on many bottles of wine, and at least 40% of most others. Or you can shop without being what they call an Angel and pay more, of course.

Click here to order wine online from Naked Wines

How to order beer online

How to order beer online

Ordering beer online is an option fewer people have than with wine orders, but most Americans can still probably get their brew delivered. Here are two great sites to check out.

Craftshack

Craftshack delivers beer to every state but AK, AR, KY, MN, and UT, so most Americans can make use of this fine craft beer delivery service. The company stocks more than a thousand beers and uses a simple flat rate shipping charge. You order either the smaller box or the larger box and, depending on what region of the nation you live in, you always pay the same shipping price no matter what you stocked your box with. Of course things still get pricey if you order lots of fancy beers.

Click here to order beer online from Craftshack Tavour

Tavour is a beer subscription service wherein you can regularly curate beer deliveries. This isn't the place to shop if you're stocking up for a party or the holidays, but if you love great beer and want to try all sorts of varieties, this is a great go-to.

Click here to order beer online from Tavour
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How to buy liquor online

How to buy liquor online

Liquor is a bit trickier when it comes to online sales. Only eight states explicitly permit direct to consumer ordering and delivery, though people in many more states squeak by.

Reserve Bar

ReserveBar.com ships liquor across a vast swath of categories, including Scotch, rum, cognac, moonshine, mezcal, and more. The site is crisp and easy to navigate and each bottle offered comes with a detailed description of what you'll be getting. Which is appreciated, as many offerings here cost hundreds of dollars.

Click here to order liquor online from Reserve Bar

How to order alcohol online for fast, local delivery

How to order alcohol online for fast, local delivery

Can't wait a few days for that beer, wine, or whiskey, but don't want to head to the bottle shop yourself? No problem.

Drizly

Drizly is yet another service that couldn't have existed even a few years ago. It relies on technology that links your search to the inventory of local liquor stores and can, in most cases, bring you a booze delivery in less than an hour. While not everything you want will always be available when you want it, because Drizly works with so many thousands of liquor stores (and wine cellars and craft brew shops), it will eventually offer the biggest selection of online alcohol in America. Currently, it serves just over 100 cities (and the metro areas close beyond) but Drizly is growing fast. And it's little wonder why. I mean ... booze delivery.

Click here to order local alcohol deliver online from Drizly
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Check out our guide to the best wine subscriptions

Check out our guide to the best wine subscriptions
The best wine subscriptions we've tried

We've tested multiple services and their wines (a tough job, but someone's gotta do it!), and have selected some of our favorites for you to try. Whether you've been drinking wine your whole life or are just beginning to discover whether you prefer red to white, we've got you covered.

Here are the best wine subscriptions we've tried:
  • Best wine subscription overall: Winc
  • Best wine subscription for everyday needs: HelloFresh
  • Best wine subscription for sampling: Vinebox
  • Best wine subscription for pairing with foods: Blue Apron
  • Best wine subscription for personalization: Bright Cellars
  • Best wine subscription that evolves with your tastes: Firstleaf