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20 years ago
Bringing wine into the US
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20 years ago
A lot of the people didn't so much smuggle as tell them ans show them what they had and walked right through. Many did smuggle, though.
Good point.
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20 years ago
Hey, Ian, I'd never suggest that you needed to bring wine to US, in NY at least we have plenty for you.:)
With better world-wide distribution of wines, its not really neccessary to worry about transport. Few wines are not available internationally now- I can find wines from Madiran, Bergerac, Jura, etc. in NY.
But I will say that Betsy and I were married Oct 13th, 2001. Three French friends came to the wedding, and they all brought wine as wedding gifts (they know me well). None had a problem. This was one month after 9-11, I don't think that security is tougher now than then- and in any case wine isn't the concern.
I have another friend who is a French-American with dual citizenship. He travels back and forth quite often. Wine is never a problem, but he does have to be ...er....crafty with the foie gras and unpasteurized cheese.
While I agree the hodgepodge of state laws in US can be frustrating, the reality is that little or no effort is made to restrict private individuals from transporting reasonable (case or two) amounts of wine for personal consumption. Witness the NH state stores, all the big ones conveniently located by the Maine and MA borders. Dale
Dale Williams Drop "damnspam" to reply
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20 years ago
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20 years ago
More importantly, almost no one gets arrested for "wine smuggling" between states even when the penalties are bad. If the state cops were to start arresting and charging people, and so on (I am thinking about how people frm Pennsylvania go to NY State to buy cases of wine to drive back home to avoid the high taxes) en masse, there would be growing pressure to stop that.
There are court cases about the interstate shipping of wine and other liquors, apparently some of the laws are rather draconian and may be overstepping the bounds of the great deal of leeway given them under the constitution. Especially the felony charges some use - they may not be able to do that under the current laws - just tax and/or confiscate.
Perhaps. Red Herring - I doubt the US would be so problem free (or problem ridden) that taxes and transportation of liquor would be a debate item.
LOL! Given that after a life of excess in drinking and cocaine, that he would be the anti-alcohol president IF there were any votes in it.
I think that is the tack currently used.
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20 years ago
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20 years ago
A thought on this topic just occurred to me:
Doesn't attempting to bring wine into the US pretty much guarantee you're _not_ a Moslem terrorist? I should think, therefore, that the _more_ and the *better* wine you try to bring in, the more solid your credentials as a bona fide lover of peace, freedom and humanity.
OTOH, a swarthy young male with a case of Lambrusco (e.g.) would obviously be _very_ suspect.
Never mind. That all makes too much sense to ever happen in real life. It also sounds too much like I'm ghost writing for Joe (Beppe) Rosenberg! :^)
S moT
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20 years ago
Just have some prosciutto with that Lambrusco.
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20 years ago
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20 years ago
"JF Clavier" wrote in news:FXTZb.1053$ snipped-for-privacy@newssvr27.news.prodigy.com:
That meets with my experience, customs doens't really care much about wine, the US tax isn't the big part and if the tax bill is less than $10 they could care less. It is as has been stated before the State governments that get all in a twit about the evils of wine.
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20 years ago
Just curious as to how you carried these bottles. By what means did the bottles actually travel (in your suitcase (I tried this once on a trip to Italy - I wrapped about 2 dozen bottles in my clothes - sadly, one broke))?? Do you have a recommendation on how to travel home with the wine you purchase overseas?? (If it makes any difference, I live in NY). Thanks for any suggestions...
cheers, dr
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20 years ago
Dennis, If you know in advance that you're going to purchase a lot of wine, why not bring a stryofoam wine shipper with you as checked-in baggage? Load it up while there, seal it and check it back in on the way home. I've hand carried
15 bottles with me before, and it was the limit of what I could manage without incurring serious bodily harm.Mark Lipton
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20 years ago
On my last return to the US (from Barcelona) I brought 7 bottles in my carry-on. That's about all I could conveniently handle (but nothing more than a wave-thru from Customs).
Bart
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20 years ago
I regularly bring cognac back to the US. I use two boxes with styrofoam interiors, which were originally used to ship wine to me. I put the cognac in the boxes, and put the boxes inside a duffle bag. I declare the cognac with US customs, and pay a small duty charge ($2-$3 per bottle).
You can buy these containers from
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20 years ago
Make sure you are travelling in a vehilce in interstate commerce (bus, train or airplane) If you are travelling in a car, there are often strict limits on the amount you can bring (For example, in private car from Baja California to California there is a 1 liter limit-no exceptions)
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20 years ago
A good way to see what your state allows is to go to their Alcohol Beverage Control website (do a search, or they are all listed at
If you are bringing the maximum, be sure to call the airline ahead of time to let them know you'll be bringing extra heavier baggage. That was the only place where we got a bit of grief.
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20 years ago
blablabla!
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20 years ago
Plonk.
M.
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20 years ago
Just returned from Rome to the U.S. last night. I had 5 bottles of wine, 1 bottle of Grappa, and a bottle of sparkling wine. Declared "wine" on my customs form and walked on through. Customs guy told me to have a great day.
Additionally, nobody EVER opened my suitcase of carry-on upon returning to the US. Should have brought back some prosciutto!
Chris