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Think Twice About Plucking From the Web’s Vineyards

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jennifer.lowe@latimes.com

Buying holiday champagne means either going to the grocery store and getting the same bottle you always do (boring) or wandering the aisles of a wine shop for hours looking for inspiration (frustrating).

Though you might know whether you prefer a Merlot to a Cabernet, buying bubbly is a real headache. So many labels, not to mention so many lousy ones.

So I asked my friend the wine expert for some recommendations. He suggested a Roederer Estate Brut. Good price, good champagne. Good enough for me.

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I signed on to the Internet and rejoiced at the thought of finishing my champagne shopping with a few easy clicks.

Well, maybe I popped the cork too soon.

Some of the wine sites I searched didn’t carry the champagne I was seeking. The prices online were often not that good, and shipping added more hassles.

Although many Internet wine sites will ship any quantity you want, be forewarned that some of the small, independent shops prefer to sell online by the case, or at least more than a bottle or two.

And if you think a voting ballot can be confusing, wait until you hit some wine sites. Internet wine sales are strictly regulated, so many sites carry gobs of legal mumbo-jumbo about whom they can sell to. California is one of only 12 states that allow direct shipments to consumers. In some states, such as Florida and Texas, the direct shipment of wine across state lines is a felony.

Because I’d bought some Merlot and Chardonnay online in the past, I headed to a few of the sites I knew. I liked EVineyard for its lack of tax (it’s based in Oregon) and free shipping on orders more than $25.

It didn’t matter; EVineyard didn’t have the Roederer.

On to Wine.com, which carried the Roederer for $19 a bottle. To find it, I had to scroll through a listing of 128 “bubblies.” For some reason, each time I tried the site’s search engine, my screen froze and I had to reload the page.

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Using the MySimon shopping search engine, I found Astoruncorked.com, the Web site of Astor Wines & Spirits in New York. Although Astoruncorked had the Roederer at $16.99 a bottle, it also presented me with this impenetrable disclaimer: “Wine is sold in New York and title passes to buyer in New York.” It wasn’t clear to me whether the company shipped beyond New York state.

Disclaimers such as the one on Astoruncorked have been put in place by Web sites trying to comply with a confusing array of state laws. To get around the various restrictions on shipping wine across state lines, online retailers often send wine along circuitous routes, adding extra costs and shipping time.

I moved on to Winex.com, the Web site for a well-stocked wine store in Orange called the Wine Exchange. The Roederer was $15.99--the cheapest yet. I had trouble getting the site to open on my first visit, but I went back the next day. This time, no problem except I couldn’t find how much it cost to ship a few bottles of champagne. The site listed only how much it cost to ship a case.

I took Winex.com up on its offer to e-mail questions. The next day a brief but cordial e-mail said sending three bottles to Los Angeles would cost $8.40 to ship, bringing the total order to $56.37 including tax.

I pulled out the calculator and went back to Wine.com. It would be $4.95 for the first bottle from them, then 45 cents for each additional bottle. That brought the total to $62.85 for three bottles from Wine.com including tax.

It looked as if Winex had the best price, but did I want three bottles?

I asked my friend the wine expert whether he could use a bottle.

“Oh, I have enough,” he said. “I picked some up at Cost Plus.”

I called Cost Plus. $17.99.

I saw a couple of other wines and things in the Cost Plus ad that I could use. Hmmm. Off went the computer and off I went to the store to get my champagne.

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Jennifer Lowe is deputy food editor of The Times.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

THE SKINNY

Roederer Estate Brut

Sites visited: https://astoruncorked.com, https://evineyard.com, https://wine.com, https://winex.com

The good: You can scan prices at a number of places and, on some sites, read reviews and other helpful information about different brands.

The bad: The legal language on wine Web sites might be off-putting. And you need to order in quantity if you want to get a better deal than at the local store.

Bottom line: If you don’t mind the shipping expense or sending the delivery to your office (wine deliveries need an adult signature), Internet wine sales can be convenient. Be forewarned that in some states, such as Texas and Florida, the direct shipment of wine to consumers is a felony.

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