Wine sales...

We have been getting more and more requests for bottles of wine. In MO we have to have a liquor license to sell it. Do any of you sell bottles of wine? If so, is it worth the time to do so? Depending on the answers I might have more questions.
Thanks

We don't have the license because of the restrictions:

• Must set aside certain areas where guests can imbibe
• Guests cannot drink their own alcohol in those areas
• Guests must buy drinks from host (which means I have to be the alcohol police)
• There's another class to take for alcohol servers
• Cannot buy alcohol at the grocery store, must buy it from a specific dealer (that may not be even near me)

So, we cannot sell alcohol in a package, nor pick it up for a guest at the store. Which is OK by me.

We can legally sell beer & wine without a liquor license. For us, it's a convenience purchase for our guests. We don't sell a lot, maybe 4 or 5 bottles a month.

Our insurance would not allow us to even give alcohol let alone sell it. But guests were ok bringing it in. Since we have lots of wineries most bought it there.

One property that I'm familiar with (not in the US) doesn't have a license to sell beer or wine, and they are located some kilometers away from the closest supermarket.
So as a convenience they have a separate fridge outside the main building fully stocked with beer, which is complementary for the guests. So they don't sell it, "it is just there". People love it very much, especially during the hot days.
In some cases, if you have good local wineries around, you could think of some sort of partnership and get wine in bulk and then provide it as a complementary free perk. Of course US has very weird laws, so it might not be valid for most of you.

We sell both beer and wine at our B&B. As Mo noted, there are a ton of restrictions which make it a double-edged sword. (My wife and I joust regularly about being the alcohol police)
It is a good money-maker for us (our margins are about 60%) That said, it's only 3% of our total sales so it's a lot of work for not a ton of cash.
It's a value-add, and if it helps differentiate you from the competition, and your guests are asking for it, you should strongly consider it.

dumitru said:

One property that I'm familiar with (not in the US) doesn't have a license to sell beer or wine, and they are located some kilometers away from the closest supermarket.
So as a convenience they have a separate fridge outside the main building fully stocked with beer, which is complementary for the guests. So they don't sell it, "it is just there". People love it very much, especially during the hot days.
In some cases, if you have good local wineries around, you could think of some sort of partnership and get wine in bulk and then provide it as a complementary free perk. Of course US has very weird laws, so it might not be valid for most of you..

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dumitru said:

Of course US has very weird laws, so it might not be valid for most of you.

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Exactly. If the guest pays for the room they paid for the complimentary alcohol. Therefore I sold it to them.

I have a ABC license but in Va. it must be included in a package. I do not sell off the shelf here (like a store). I think some include it in the room rate and have a happy hour, I do not as Iam more like cottages or vacation rentals. Rules vary in every state/country.

Do you want to go through a full fledged background check? And the cost annually for the license?

I guess it all depends on what you have to go through in MO to get a license to have wine. If it is simple and your insurance allows it, then why not. In VA, you can get a B & B License fairly easily but you can not outright sell wine, it must be included in a package.

If the guest looks frazzled when they walk in, we offer them a glass of wine. Most guests are on their own.

EmptyNest said:

I guess it all depends on what you have to go through in MO to get a license to have wine. If it is simple and your insurance allows it, then why not. In VA, you can get a B & B License fairly easily but you can not outright sell wine, it must be included in a package..

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EmptyNest said:

I guess it all depends on what you have to go through in MO to get a license to have wine. If it is simple and your insurance allows it, then why not. In VA, you can get a B & B License fairly easily but you can not outright sell wine, it must be included in a package.

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We looked into it and decided we didn't want another entity in our business. Another one to answer to.
The only draw we would have was to attract folks here because we had it in a package, but in reality they can byo and save money and they would never appreciate the total hassle and expense for us to get it and maintain it annually, to sell a few packages including wine.
In other words, way more effort than it was worth. We did think about it and got the forms and then half way filling them out tossed in the towel. Our next door neighbor is a "no alcohol" minister, and we would have had to get his permission, and post this also in the newspaper.

I hosted another innkeeper once who had a nightly "wine reception" at 5pm with free wine. His motivation was to get all his guests to check in earlier.

What kind of guests will this attract or turn away? Is this the kind you want or don't want? Also how will this effect your family? Your neighborhood?

Thank you everyone for giving advice. There is a lot to think about. We might give it a try for a year and see how it goes. There are a lot of wineries in out area and I was thinking if just having local selection. I see a lot of people come and check in and then leave to run to the store. They like to hangout on the porches or sit by the waterfall and have a glass of wine. I was just thinking dollar signs for something very easy. I like the idea of checking in early for some wine and cheese. I could also have sparkling grape juice for those who do not drink. We are thinking of adding an outdoor covered living room with fireplace and I could see this as a nice place for couples to relax. Might be a good place when the weather is nice to host this. Thank you all for your advice!

PhineasSwann said:

I hosted another innkeeper once who had a nightly "wine reception" at 5pm with free wine. His motivation was to get all his guests to check in earlier..

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PhineasSwann said:

I hosted another innkeeper once who had a nightly "wine reception" at 5pm with free wine. His motivation was to get all his guests to check in earlier.

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Brilliant! OTOH, we've never made it to the afternoon soiree , except once when we stayed with an innmate!

Duff2014 said:

What kind of guests will this attract or turn away? Is this the kind you want or don't want? Also how will this effect your family? Your neighborhood?.

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For the most part we only have couples staying here and no children. We have never had any issues with people getting out of line with drinking. Nothing will really change except maybe making a little off of a few bottles here and there. The family sees it all the time when we clean rooms. Nothing will change with the neighborhood. We do not envision opening a bar. Just deliver a bottle when requested.

PhineasSwann said:

I hosted another innkeeper once who had a nightly "wine reception" at 5pm with free wine. His motivation was to get all his guests to check in earlier..

Click to expand...

PhineasSwann said:

I hosted another innkeeper once who had a nightly "wine reception" at 5pm with free wine. His motivation was to get all his guests to check in earlier.

Click to expand...

and different styles of b&b's, for me as a bnb goer I am not into that. Yet others love that! I often think if that would work here, from one day to the next our guests are all so diffferent, we really don't have a "standard guest".

Duff2014 said:

What kind of guests will this attract or turn away? Is this the kind you want or don't want? Also how will this effect your family? Your neighborhood?.

Click to expand...

in the UK drink sales arn't a massive earner more of a little perk for guests as its
£250 to do a course to be allowed to serve alcohol - all alcohol sales must be supervised by someone with this qualification called a personal licence and lasts 10 years - must have one on site any time alcohol is served.
£100 criminal record check to get personal liscence
£375 per year for your premises liscence which has to be renewed every year.
For the people I know who do it, its more presents from friends (ie can you put a bottle in the room for them as a surprise) or irish coffee or 1 bottle of prosceco type - does not attract drunks as too expensive. Also people further away ie farm stay type properties do better as its ease of convenience where as I am 5 mins from a 24 hour asda where they can buy any time and when we bought here had an offliscence at the bottom of the car park so we let it go. HOwever when we get next door we will have it fully liscenced so we can sell to Lodge customers and to Camberley Customers and save a fee.

The license in WV was not expensive - $125 per year i think - and I considered it. I do not remember any of the requirements other than what stopped me - I had to do a drawing showing the location where it would be stored. And I think it had to be a secured location. Could not figure out where that could be so dropped it. The grocery sells wine (even some good stuff - as in not Ripple or Boone's Farm) and that is 2 minutes away. I supply wine glasses often - and cork puller also when they find it is not a screw-top bottle.