Shipping to the UK

• The United States Postal Service will flat-out refuse to ship alcoholic beverages, including wine. Private shipping companies, like FedEx or UPS, will ship wine to overseas locations only if the shipping agent is (i.e., if you are) a licensed entity. If you have the proper licenses to ship wine, then follow these companies' instructions and ship away.

  If you're a private consumer, however, you'll have trouble shipping wine overseas. You'll need to go through a licensed seller, and this entity is likely to charge pretty steep fees. There are many tariffs involved in shipping alcohol to the UK, and vendors will often charge service fees in addition.

Alternate Method

• There is an easier alternative method to get a particular wine to someone or somewhere in the UK. Note that it won't work for getting an actual bottle there; to do so, you'll have to pay the aforementioned fees, or fly there yourself and declare it on your customs forms.

  But if there's a particular vintage that you want to send someone in the UK, the easiest way is to contact a distributor within the UK. See if that distributor has the bottle in stock, or if they can find someone in the country who does. If so, you'll only have to pay domestic shipping fees, which will be significantly cheaper.