The convenience of home delivery of everything from food to packages from online retailers such as Amazon has now spread to the alcoholic beverage market.

A new Connecticut-based online start-up, Porter21, is launching this month in New Haven, having started in Hartford and a dozen suburban communities in November. The premise is a simple one: delivery of bottles of your favorite alcoholic beverage to your home within 60 minutes of placing an order online.

The new business partners with local liquor stores in this venture: the stores provide the inventory and the workers who deliver the spirits to the consumers while Porter21 provides the online portal and the marketing oomph.

"We're trying to create a convenience for time-starved young professionals," said Ankit Harpaldas, the founder of Porter21.

Taking advantage of the service requires a minimum order of $25 and living in one of the zip codes - 06510, 06529 and 06511 - that Porter21 serves.

The service is only available during the hours that the state's liquor stores are open; if a transaction can not be completed by 9 p.m. on Monday through Saturday or by 5 p.m. on Sunday, a delivery person will provide the customer with an option for a future time when the product they have purchased can be brought to their door.

The business model that Porter21 uses hasn't drawn any opposition from the trade group representing the state's liquor stores, the Connecticut Package Store Association.

"We don't see it as a negative to have entrepreneurial companies contracting with packages stores for delivery to people's doorsteps," said Josh Hughes, assistant executive director of the Middletown-based group. "We think it's a good thing."

But some anti-addiction advocates say the concept of the online delivery service is rife with the potential of alcohol falling into the hands of under-aged drinkers.

"There is no way that the delivery person coming to the door can adequately police whether the person they're delivering to is of legal age," said Ken Welch, head of the Coalition for a Better Wallingford. "You can't tell me that the delivery person isn't going to look the other way (about being of legal drinking age) if someone comes to the door to get the order and they have an extra $50 to give."

Welch also said he's concerned about the legal intricacies associated with the transaction. Because a retailer has to have a liquor license to sell alcoholic beverages, Welch contends a business like Porters21 is essentially reselling the product and should be required to be licensed by the state as well.

Harpaldas said customers must verify their age on the website when they order, and the delivery people card customers when they make the delivery. The delivery people can refuse to leave the order if the customer can't produce a valid ID - or if they appear to be too drunk when the delivery is made.

, he said.