SEATTLE — The Washington State Liquor Control Board is working with the Pierce County prosecutor to press charges on a Seahawks fan’s distribution of commemorative wine bottles to several hundred others.
A spokesperson with the liquor control board told KIRO 7 that their officers, along with Lakewood police, confiscated 33 bottles on Nov. 8.
Justin Smith had arranged to distribute those bottles to people who had paid. He said he was set up by angry 12s who called the government agency.
There are currently about 100 people left who paid $61.48 per bottle but have not received them. The remainder of the 400 bottles has been claimed by people who purchased them.
Smith told KIRO 7 he had first seen a Super Bowl commemorative wine bottle on Facebook during the summer. He said it was a picture of a bottle a friend’s father had been given at work.
Many fans said they wanted one, and Smith set out to find a way to buy them.
He said he contacted the winery whose label was on the bottle in the picture, but that the winery eventually could not follow through on the order.
Smith said he used to work in the California wine industry but did not know that he needed a license to resell these bottles.
Smith said he then purchased 400 bottles of Hans Schiller Liebfraumilch white wine from a big box store, paid for a company in Portland, Oregon to etch them, and had them wax-sealed and shipped.
Hans Schiller Liebfraumilch retails for under $7 per bottle. Smith said he could not remember what he paid for the wine itself.
He said the cost of etching the glass was expensive, and the whole process has taken him 70 to 80 hours to arrange.
“I had to factor in other costs on top of that, like shipping. The shipping alone was between $12 and $15,” Smith said.
When KIRO 7 asked if he made a profit, Smith said, “Well, I’ve lost that and losing money because they confiscated $12,000 worth of bottles.”
He explained that he added a $3 or $4 dollar margin in the price charged to fellow fans, in case something happened in shipment.
He said he does not have any money left to refund people who might want their money back. Instead, he can try to offer them just the glass bottle with water in it instead of wine.
Carlos Gaston said he paid for four bottles that he will not receive now.
“That’s $250 that I paid for, and I have nothing to show for it,” he said.
Gaston and some other purchasers told KIRO 7 they were upset that these were relatively cheap bottles of wine, on which the front label was replaced with etching.
Dozens of other fans wrote and called KIRO 7 to show their support for Smith.
“If any of us would have thought that this was a problem, I don’t think any of us would have done this, including Justin,” said Laura Strickland.
Strickland was not able to pick up her bottle before officials confiscated them. She said she would prefer to have the wine, but would also prefer Smith not be in trouble with the law.
KIRO
