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SAN FRANCISCO — — Amazon.com, the largest global online retailer, plans to start selling U.S.-produced wine on its website within the United States by late September or October, a Napa Valley vintners association said Wednesday.
Napa Valley Vintners, a non-profit group representing 315 vintners in the famous California wine-producing region, has already begun to set up workshops for wineries interested in selling through the retail giant, said Terry Hall, communications director for the group.
"They have been working for a while on this wine project. Now they are signing up the wineries," Mr. Hall told Reuters. "They're fast-tracking it right now."
An Amazon spokeswoman declined to comment.
Amazon is looking to sell wine to 26 states and the wine sold on its site will come from all regions of the country, Hall said.
"The step forward with Amazon being a wine retailer is just more testament to the fact that Americans are really becoming a wine drinking economy," Hall said.
"The good news is it [Amazon selling wine] puts some big muscle behind direct-to-consumer so consumers of wine should benefit."
