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This article was published 24/1/2017 (1333 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

First, there were brew pubs, then beer and pizza delivery. Now, there’s home delivery of strong, sweet wine.

It may not necessarily be the progression the masses were waiting for, but that’s how it’s rolling out in Manitoba.

At the end of this week, Shrugging Doctor Brewing Company will fire up its online ordering at shrugdoc.com and you will be able to order a bottle of their locally made sugar wine — with 20 per cent alcohol by volume — for $9.99 plus a delivery charge of $4.99.

Partners Willows Christopher and Zach Isaacs — both 20 years old — have a honey mead concoction that will also be ready next week and a saskatoon berry wine that will be finished in a couple more weeks.

"We are the first winery in the city selling direct to the public and starting Friday we will be the first to deliver liquor to your door," Christopher said.

Shrugging Doctor has applied to get their sugar wine — a Finnish recipe Isaacs said has been North Americanized — carried by Manitoba Liquor Marts. They say they believe their service will appeal to a younger crowd, presumably ones that want to drink stronger wine. More traditional wines are in the 13 per cent alcohol by volume range.

Last fall, HopsPizza.com started delivering pizza and beer. The company is now making pizza at three locations, all of which are co-located with beer vendors. The Manitoba Liquor Control Commission has a home delivery service charging $7.30 for a case of beer (or wine or liquor), plus 70 cents for every additional bottle. The provincial regulators do not allow retail resale of beer, wines and spirits outside the licensed vendors.

Shrugging Doctor is a licensed manufacturer and also has a retail licence.

"We are 100 per cent licensed," said Isaacs.

But even before their hooch home delivery has even started, they’ve already caught the attention of the regulators.

Their publicity materials make reference to the convenience of their service in that it "helps prevent individuals from driving to the liquor mart or vendors for more alcohol when they are already intoxicated."

Liz Stephenson, a senior official with the Liquor and Gaming Authority, the provincial licensing body, said, "We are all for new businesses starting up. We think it’s great. We have worked well with the Shrugging Doctor to make sure they get going. But they do have to follow the rules to ensure public safety. I think those are expectations all Manitobans have."

In particular, Shrugging Doctor drivers have to take the Smart Choices responsible service certification course. They can’t deliver to minors and they can’t deliver to an intoxicated person.

"We are really strict on this," Stephenson said about the marketing reference to delivering to people already intoxicated. "That would certainly put their licence in jeopardy should we have any reason to believe they were contravening that."

Both Isaacs and Christopher said they are fully aware of the licensing stipulations and understand they cannot deliver to people who wouldn’t be able to get service in a bar.

martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca