• adam_y@lemmy.world
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    6 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
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      6 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
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      6 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
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        6 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.