Wine, spirits, and craft beer stores operate in one of the most regulated ecommerce categories. Beyond the standard product migration, these stores must carefully manage age verification, state-by-state shipping restrictions, compliance disclaimers, and often run wine club subscription programs. Here's how to handle the migration from WooCommerce to Shopify.

Wine and spirits product data

Vintage/year: For wine — often as a variant (different years = different product versions)
Region/appellation: Bordeaux, Napa Valley, Tuscany — often stored as a product attribute
Grape variety: Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, IPA hops — product attribute
ABV (Alcohol by Volume): Percentage — required on product pages in most jurisdictions
Volume: 750ml, 1.5L (magnum), 375ml (half bottle), 330ml (beer can)
Tasting notes: Color, nose, palate, finish — typically a rich text description
Food pairing: Suggested food accompaniments
Serving temperature: "Serve at 16–18°C"
Winemaker/producer notes: Producer's description of the wine
Wine scores: Wine Spectator, Robert Parker, Jancis Robinson ratings
Organic/biodynamic/natural certifications

Product structure for wine on Shopify

Vintage as variant

For wines sold in multiple vintages simultaneously (e.g., 2019 and 2020 Cabernet both available):

Option "Vintage": 2019, 2020, 2021 — each is a variant with its own inventory and price
This approach keeps all vintages of a wine in one product listing
Downside: tasting notes may differ per vintage — store vintage-specific notes in metafields or variant-level metafields

Volume as variant

Wine available in multiple bottle sizes:

Option "Size": 375ml (half), 750ml, 1.5L (magnum)
Each size has its own price (magnum typically 2× price of standard bottle)

Vintage + Volume

Both vintage and volume as variants: 3 vintages × 3 sizes = 9 variants — manageable within Shopify's limits.

Tasting notes and wine data as metafields

product.metafields.wine.vintage (number_integer) — 2021
product.metafields.wine.region (single_line_text)
product.metafields.wine.appellation (single_line_text)
product.metafields.wine.grape_varieties (multi_line_text)
product.metafields.wine.abv (number_decimal) — 13.5
product.metafields.wine.tasting_notes (rich_text) — full tasting note
product.metafields.wine.food_pairing (multi_line_text)
product.metafields.wine.serving_temp (single_line_text)
product.metafields.wine.winemaker_notes (rich_text)
product.metafields.wine.score_spectator (number_integer) — Wine Spectator score
product.metafields.wine.score_parker (number_integer)
product.metafields.wine.organic (boolean)
product.metafields.wine.biodynamic (boolean)

Age verification on Shopify

Age verification is legally required for alcohol ecommerce in most jurisdictions. Shopify options:

Native Shopify age verification

Shopify Admin → Online Store → Preferences → Age verification. Shows an age gate before the store loads. Basic — "Are you 21+?" confirmation click. Free, no customization.

Age verification apps

Age Verification King: Date of birth entry form, customizable design, bypass for certain pages (contact, about), log of age verification attempts.
Hulk Age Verification: Free tier available. Date of birth form, country-specific age requirements, cookie-based bypass after verification.
AgeVerify: Simple yes/no confirmation with configurable messaging.

For UK and EU compliance, a simple confirmation click is often insufficient. A date-of-birth entry form is more defensible. For US DTC alcohol sales, consult your compliance counsel on what form of age verification meets your state's requirements.

US alcohol shipping restrictions

Direct-to-consumer alcohol shipping varies dramatically by US state:

States that allow DTC wine/spirits: California, New York, Texas, Florida, and most others for wine
States that prohibit DTC alcohol: Utah, Mississippi, Alabama, and others — shipping alcohol here is illegal
States with quantity limits: Some states limit to 1–2 cases per shipment

Restricting shipping by state on Shopify

Shopify doesn't natively block orders by state. Approaches:

Shipping zones: Create a shipping zone excluding prohibited states — they'll see no shipping rates at checkout and cannot complete purchase
Compliance apps: ComplyMe (alcohol compliance), ShipCompliant — manage state-specific restrictions automatically
Checkout validation (Shopify Plus): Server-side checkout validation to block shipping to restricted states

Wine club subscriptions

Wine clubs (quarterly or monthly curated selections sent automatically) are a core revenue model for wine stores. WooCommerce Wine Club setups typically used WooCommerce Subscriptions.

On Shopify

Recharge: Supports curated subscription boxes — monthly wine selection, variable products per cycle
Bold Subscriptions: Supports subscription boxes with admin-configured product swaps
Wine club-specific apps: WineShipping integrates with Shopify for wine-specific fulfillment and club management

Membership allocation wines

High-end wine stores with allocation lists (limited production wines reserved for club members):

Locksmith app: restrict product availability to customers with specific tags (e.g., "club-member-gold")
Shopify customer tagging: tag members via Shopify Flow when membership activates

Shopify Payments and alcohol

Shopify Payments generally supports alcohol sales. Key requirements:

Must comply with all applicable laws in your jurisdiction
Age verification must be in place
Craft beer/wine/spirits sold within legal frameworks are generally accepted
Consult Shopify's Acceptable Use Policy for your specific jurisdiction

UK alcohol compliance

UK-based alcohol ecommerce has specific requirements:

Drinkaware logo and link on all pages (required for UK alcohol retailers)
"Please drink responsibly" messaging
Age verification (Challenge 25 standard is common practice)
Shopify allows adding Drinkaware logo to header/footer via theme liquid

Wine/spirits store migration checklist

Create wine metafield namespace with tasting notes, region, appellation, ABV, scores
Plan vintage/volume variant structure before migration
Export wine tasting notes and specifications from WooCommerce for metafield import
Set up age verification app (date of birth form recommended)
Configure shipping zones to exclude states/countries where alcohol shipping is prohibited
Install compliance app (ComplyMe or ShipCompliant) for US DTC shipping management
Set up wine club subscription via Recharge or Bold
Tag wine club members and configure restricted-access products via Locksmith
Add Drinkaware/responsible drinking messaging if required by jurisdiction
Verify Shopify Payments is enabled and approved before going live
Test checkout with state restriction blocking — confirm prohibited states cannot complete order

Wine and spirits stores have the most regulatory complexity of any ecommerce category, but Shopify's checkout reliability and subscription management via Recharge are genuine improvements over typical WooCommerce setups. The key is addressing compliance requirements (age verification, state restrictions) before launch, not after.

Migrating a wine, spirits & craft beer store from WooCommerce to Shopify (2026)