• @adam_y@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    256 months ago

    Best Norway fact I have is that their wine (and spirits) is nationalised. Anything over 4.75%.

    You can only buy it from the government in places called Vinmonopolet (English: The Wine Monopoly), and it is directly taxed.

    • @plumbercraic@lemmy.sdf.org
      link
      fedilink
      236 months ago

      And it’s awesome. The staff have to actually study and pass a test so they can advise on wine selection. The selection is huge and far beyond what’s visible in the stores - and there’s a great app for ordering stuff. They even have massively subsidised wine courses and a free wine magazine that’s surprisingly good.

    • @folekaule@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      96 months ago

      It isn’t terribly different in practice from state and local regulations in the US, except the rules in Norway are the same nationwide.

      For example, where I live in Ohio, I can buy beer at the grocery store with some restrictions on Sundays. I can also buy harder liquor in the state store, which is located in a physically separated section of the grocery store and where you have to be 21 (legal drinking age) to shop. Alcohol is subject to special taxes here, as well.

      In Norway I would buy beer at the grocery store then go across the street to Vinmonopolet and buy some wine. I could do that at age 18, though some harder liquor is/was restricted to 21.

      So it’s not all that different, except in the US the limits are a little different, it’s more likely to be regulated at a local level, and typically run by some private for-profit entity.

      • @leggettc18@programming.dev
        link
        fedilink
        English
        46 months ago

        Certain parts of the US (typically further southeast) anything over like 5% is exclusively in ABC Stores, a completely separate building and company from grocery stores.