Seattle-based Amazon.com, Inc. today announced the launch of Amazon Wine, a marketplace offering customers more than a thousand wines crafted by wineries around the country, according to a release. The new store features easy-to-use shopping tools to help customers explore great wines and offers access to rich details directly from winemakers, such as tasting notes, recommended food pairings and total case production.

“Whether it’s helping customers find a favorite varietal, shop for holiday pairings or expand their cellar with a special hand-crafted bottle, we’re excited to provide the right tools and information needed to guide them to the perfect wine,” said Peter Faricy, Vice President, Amazon Marketplace. “We’re thrilled for wineries around the country to share their great collections of wines with our customers through the Amazon Wine Store.”

“People love to explore wine, but it is rare to have detailed information and opinions located all in one place,” said Tom Hedges of Hedges Family Estate, Red Mountain, Wash. “What Amazon has done with their new wine store is take the experience of hundreds of tasting rooms and put them online. We could not be more excited by the possibilities of growing our business and reaching new customers.”

Starting today, customers can ship up to six bottles of their favorite wine for $9.99. At launch, shipping will be available to California, Connecticut, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Nevada, North Carolina, Oregon, Washington, Wyoming and the District of Columbia, with more coming soon. Customers can find more information about shipping at http://www.amazon.com/wineshipping.