"suitcase" bottles from Burgundy

D

David Gissen

David Gissen
Hey Everyone:
Thanks again for advice and helping me set up visits. We'll be going to some amazing places, although looking at the weather, we should bring either a kayak, or snorkel and flippers.

I've heard that you can bring back a max of 24 bottles and then 3liters/person before duties. First, has that been your experience? And second, what's the best way to do this?

Somehow I think the term "suitcase" bottle is a misnomer, either that, or I should leave tons of empty space in an additional suitcase. Is there any reason I can't check in a cardboard box/case or two of wine at the airport? On the way back we travel Geneva>CPH>SFO (CPH and SFO are pretty parcel friendly airports).
 
I bring a case home regularly, like Jeff in styrofoam packing cases. Occasionally they make me pay the tax, which on 12 bottles is usually about $2.50. Do scrupulously declare it and you'll be fine.
 
I am not sure the max before duty, but I've never been charged duty. I believe duty is based on alcohol content rather than monetary value so it's not worth their while to charge it on wine. I try to take as much as I can carry, ~40 or so is my record. It was easier when you could carry some on.

Boxes with styrofoam are secure but not very space efficient. You can squeeze more bottles in if you wrap some in your clothes. If it's all packed tight, they won't break. Be mindful of weight limits though. At 50+ lbs they might charge you money or prohibit you from checking it at all.

On your flight out, bring your suitcase inside an empty suitcase.
 
I put styrofoam inside suitcases. Always declare.
Lately though, I've discovered that wine shippers made of sturdy cardboard dividers are more space efficient.
Weight restriction is a pain in the neck, and they will charge you for additional bags. On my last trip, I weighed everything before leaving, to get as close as possible to 23 kg for the check-in item and 8 kg for the carry-on.
 
I use regular styro mailers, and always declare.

I've never been charged duty (most arrivals to JFK).

I took a case of wine to Mexico once, declared it. Turns out there was a 9-bottle limit. The nice woman at customs tore up my form and made me do a new one only declaring 9.
 
originally posted by SFJoe:
I use regular styro mailers, and always declare.

I've never been charged duty (most arrivals to JFK).

I took a case of wine to Mexico once, declared it. Turns out there was a 9-bottle limit. The nice woman at customs tore up my form and made me do a new one only declaring 9.
Click to expand...

do you bring it all in a box or in a suitcase?
 
originally posted by SFJoe:
I use regular styro mailers, and always declare.

I've never been charged duty (most arrivals to JFK).

I took a case of wine to Mexico once, declared it. Turns out there was a 9-bottle limit. The nice woman at customs tore up my form and made me do a new one only declaring 9.
Click to expand...

I occasionally come through NY and declare there. They only seem interested in heroin in amounts greater than a kilo and old rich people bringing in large quantities of jewelry (if young poor people did that, I expect they'd be interested in them too). They don't even want to hear about wine.

Dulles went through a period, influenced by the VA wine industry I was told, of trying to discourage you from bringing in more than the ostensible one liter you're allowed. But the law only allows them to tax you, not to take the stuff away, and the tax, as I said, is risibly low. They realized it wasn't worth their time and just stopped. It also helped I think, when I bought one of those red cloth envelopes on wheels that you can put a styrofoam shipper in (I highly recommend this is you do this regularly and have to make connections where you're carrying you on baggage--like on trains). Since it doesn't scream that you're bringing wine in, even if you've declared it, the customs agents at the last point of exit just wave you through.
 
originally posted by Keith Levenberg:
You can squeeze more bottles in if you wrap some in your clothes. If it's all packed tight, they won't break.
Click to expand...

Mmm ... they could, however as long as it isn't a red, there'll be hardly anything but glass to clean up. I had a bottle of rosé from Burgundy break in my bag, but the extreme dehumidification of the plane's air dried it all up by the time we arrived. The wine was gone, only glass remained. No stains, hardly any smell even.The spirits (pun not intended) of the sky apparently like rosé.
 
One trick I learned was to bring saran wrap and wrap individual bottles. if they break, which has happened before, there will be little to no leakage in the suitcase.
 
I loaded a suitcase with wine, using clothes as wrapping, and then had to check the bag because it was so heavy. At Newark the bag mysteriously became unzipped between the plane and the baggage carousel. I guess the contents were deemed heavy but ultimately invaluable and the bag was tossed onto the carousel still unzipped sending bottles stuffed in socks rolling everywhere. I remember laughing that some poor schmuck's underwear was spread all over the carousel for everyone see . . . and then I realized that poor schmuck was me. Miraculously all the bottles made it intact.

So here's one vote against just stuffing it in your suitcase.
 
What do people do about bringing the empty shipper on the way out? I'm assuming airlines will charge a standard checked luggage fee if you're flying coach?

For a ready-made solution you can try a wine check:

Loading…

www.wineberserkers.com
 
originally posted by Jay Miller:
What do people do about bringing the empty shipper on the way out? I'm assuming airlines will charge a standard checked luggage fee if you're flying coach?

For a ready-made solution you can try a wine check:

Loading…

www.wineberserkers.com
Click to expand...
Yes, you ship an empty box and yes, you pay for it just like any other.

Or, you arrange to buy one when you are in wine country. You are not the only entity that wishes to ship wine around safely.
 
Shipping boxes are indeed the best solution. If your allowance is 50 pounds you can use a shipper for 18 bottles and fill with only 16 or 17, depending on the bottles used by the winery. With a 70 pound allowance you can do obviously better, though boxes bigger than 18 are not really practical (and those are already pretty big). In that case I use the 18 bottle shipper and stuff other goodies next to each bottle until the weight is reached. I almost always use all cardboard insert shippers and they work fine and are a bit less bulky than the ones with styrofoam.

It is often good to bring the box with you (only if you have luggage allowance and will have a car right away) since not all wineries in Europe are that well equipped. Germany they all have it, in France and Italy it varies greatly.

Regarding customs, the most important thing is to declare it all. Boston is, in my experience, the easiest port of entry. Brought between 1 and 3 cases over 30 times since 99 and never paid. Twice they started to investigate, then dropped it because of the low amount it would have cost.

A few weeks ago I was re-routed to Newark, which made me uneasy and rightly so. I had 50 bottles and the guy said he was charging me 3$ a bottle. My question whether this amount was some recent change was ignored. Strangely, their CC machine did not work and I was asked to pay cash. Since I did not have enough on me, he offered to send me with one of the officers into the terminal to get cash at an ATM, which I declined. I was then told to expect a bill via mail. As almost expected, 5 weeks later no bill ... Sounds very New Jersey to me.
 
I have paid the duty in Boston at least twice. It's been under $50 each time. Both times, they got out the calculator, I had good records of what I had paid for everything and had declared everything completely and accurately and they worked through the math to arrive at a figure that I was happy to pay. There was some complex formula - most expensive bottle is free, then some percentage of purchase price of each bottle, plus a volume cost on the total of some trivial amount per liter. When I have traveled in the past with the intention of bringing special bottles home, I've always found the applicable sections in the customs regs and printed them to bring with me just in case there is any confusion (on my part, of course).
 
Piling on, I've never paid duty and have always scrupulously declared, though I feel like a piker in saying that the most I've ever lugged back from France was 15 bottles. If you have the freedom to check a styrofoam shipper or other rigid conveyance, great. If not, I can highly recommend a product called Wineskins. I recently returned from NZ with two cases of wine, each bottle placed into a Wineskin then wrapped with clothing and placed into a duffel bag. All but one bottle survived intact and the duffel with two cases of wine in it came in under weight for International travel.

Mark Lipton
 
Thanks again everyone: I am going with the suitcase in suitcase strategy.
When I return, I'll be sure to gloat (...I mean, report back to all of you with lots of technical details from all of my domaine visits)
 
Just off the autoroute or main road south of Puligny is the Cooperatif for vineyard and winery supply. They sell boxes and styro there. Grab a roll of "fragile" marked tape and a sharpie to draw arrows to the right side up. The boxes they sell there are really compact and efficient. For wine, you can bring "a reasonable amount for personal consumption" back to the US. Last I checked, this was about 5 cases of wine if you can figure how to manage. 5 litres of hard liquor is the limit for strong stuff. Have fun!
 
originally posted by Rob Lateiner:
Just off the autoroute or main road south of Puligny is the Cooperatif for vineyard and winery supply. They sell boxes and styro there. Grab a roll of "fragile" marked tape and a sharpie to draw arrows to the right side up. The boxes they sell there are really compact and efficient. For wine, you can bring "a reasonable amount for personal consumption" back to the US. Last I checked, this was about 5 cases of wine if you can figure how to manage. 5 litres of hard liquor is the limit for strong stuff. Have fun!
Click to expand...

Ok, i spent an hour trying to find this place. My recommendation is to go into Chassagne/Meursault and ask directions to the cooperatif viticole (sp?) Bourgogne Sud if looking for this. But the sign on the building is a little different. It's right near a clover-leaf immediately before Corpeau.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top