We can only buy wine in Pennsylvania in State-owned Liquor stores.  A bit of an inconvenience at times.  I’d like to be able to pick up a bottle of wine in a grocery store.

What about beer and spirits, Cassie? Are those only sold at a state owned liquor store, too? Beer in grocery stores? Convenience stores? It’s interesting how different states deal with the whole issue of alcohol.

I am a little skeptical of the claim that most states allow sales of wine in grocery stores. Maybe it’s true, though.

Given that I don’t drink, I can only speak for what I’ve observed - and you can buy wine (and beer) anywhere - grocery stores - even Target.  I’ve observed this in California, Nevada, and possibly New Mexico.  Utah - definately a liquor store only place for the purchase of wine - and there are restricted hours on the purchase of beer.

Hawai’i, befitting its rep as a liberal state, allows beer/wine/liquor sales at its grocery stores (hic!).

I don’t recall whether liquor is available in Ca. groceries, but I know darned well that beer is.  And I’ve bought beer in groceries in every West Coast state, and in NM and AZ as well.

Captcha word - banquo.  Tsk; shouldn’t it have been Falstaff?

In CA we could buy everything all at the Market. It was sooooo much easier, and cheaper LOL.

After doing a little reading on the subject, it looks as if the recent polls suggest the measure has about 58% support, statewide. That’s fallen just slightly in the last month as independent wine sellers and those worried about easier availability for kids gear up their campaigns against it.

I also read that 34 states permit wine sales in food markets. Would most of them be west of the Mississippi?

Linkmeister - yes, the partyboy Falstaff would have been more appropriate. Guess the captcha generator is prescient just often enough to be interesting, but not totally scary. But where was Bacchus? He’s lurking in there somewhere, too.

Here in Ohio, you can get wine / spirits / beer from the state stores, the grocery stores, the convenience stores, and the ubiquitous ‘drive through liquor store’, which always kind of amused me given the local community’s stance on drunk driving.  (It’s a hanging offense to hear some of the locals talk...)

My grocery store, Giant Eagle (bless them), even has it’s own wine steward on staff.  He’s a friendly guy who doesn’t mind answering my stupid questions.  (How does one pronounce ‘Shiraz’, anyway… and is it any good?)

I remember those drive throughs, Dave. Never saw one before I went to Ohio. How long since have wine and spirits been available in the grocery stores? The last time I was there was about 12 years ago and they only sold beer then.

The larger grocery chain here is talking about a wine steward if the measure passes. That would be a great idea!

Although Washington’s alcohol-sales system is generally based on Pennsylvania’s (i.e., distilled spirits sold only in state stores, which also sell wine), it’s been greatly simplified and rationalized for beer and wine.  Both beer and wine are readily available in grocery stores; I buy mine at Trader Joe’s.  Convenience stores sell beer, and at least some stock wine as well.  In Pennsylvania, of course, you can get liquor and wine only from state stores ... plus they have that crazy setup of beer distributors for cases and kegs (plus wine coolers, since the division of what’s-sold-where is based on %alcohol), and six-packs sold only at bars.

In an earlier life, I lived in Kentucky.  I know that beer was sold in grocery stores, but don’t remember whether they also sold wine.  Some pharmacies had separate sections in which they sold hard liquor and probably wine.  All this was contingent on not living in a dry county (I lived in Louisville, in “wet” Jefferson County).  Also, I recall that one couldn’t buy beer on Sundays until 1pm or so.

I found a Wikipedia table summarizing state alcohol laws.  Note that some 18 states—including my last three home states (PA, NH, WA)—are “control” states, where at least some alcohol is sold solely by the state.

According to that wikipedia table, it looks like there are nearly as many variations in rules for sales as there are states. I would like to see an end to the state controlled liquor stores, though. What was the thinking when they were established? Is it a throw back to the bootlegging and prohibition era? Is there a higher tax on alcohol in controlled states?

If I recall my PA history, their LCB system was created in the immediate aftermath of the repeal of Prohibition.  If so, I’m certain that it was an attempt to maintain tighter control and discourage overexuberant sales of liquor.  Pennsylvania was, as you probably know, a major center for “blue laws”.

As for price and taxes, it’s a mixed bag.  It’s well known that Pennsylvanians often cross the state line to stock up on alcohol in less-expensive New Jersey.  Occasionally, the Pennsylvania state police would hang out at liquor stores in NJ, noting the license numbers of cars and then busting them after they crossed back into PA.  OTOH, there’s a good reason that there’s a New Hampshire state store just inside the state border on every major highway from Massachusetts ... NH prices are lower than MA’s, and those stores do land-office business.  As you well know, the I-95 store in Hampton even has its own exit off the highway.

New Hampshire may be the oddity in the bunch. There is no sales tax in the state and there is no state excise tax on spirits. I think there is a modest one on wine and a small one on beer. Most of the people I know who shop at the NH state stores go there to buy spirits which are significantly less expensive than here.

I understand that the Mass cops used to scope out license plates in the NH store parking lots and snag people when they came off the store’s exit back onto 95. I don’t think that’s allowed anymore.

In NY, you can buy beer in grocery and convenience stores. In fact, those are the only places you can buy it, because liquore stores aren’t allowed to sell beer for some reason. Wine is not sold in grocery stores, only in liquor stores with spirits.

I’m not sure how true this is, but I was reading another side of this MA ballot, which is that passing Question 1 will allow big box stores, with their huge buying power, to dictate what wines are sold in the state. Distributors of boutique wines are concerned that their market share will drop and that small mom and pop liquor stores will be put out of business.

I’ve heard the argument that large stores like Sam’s Club will be able to buy in massive quantities which means lower prices. That seriously worries independent sellers, but I don’t see how big box sales disallow independents from selling the wines they choose from their own established distribution lines. There is definitely a lot of fear over this measure.

Right now there is a Sam’s Club just over the border in NH that buys wines in huge quantities. From what I’ve seen, they really cater to jug wine tastes. And box wines. They just don’t offer much quality.

What seems more likely is that the grocery stores and big box stores will sell less expensive wines while the independents sell more specialized, higher quality, and boutique wines. That seems to follow in most of the states that sell wine in food stores.

I wouldn’t be surprised to see a few independents go out of business if the measure passes. Unless they can figure out how to specialize their product a little more—and provide other services and events (wine tastings and such). But most of the liquor stores in this state also sell spirits and beer and they will still be the only outlet for those items.