Bringing wine into the US

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.

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

With regards to the presidential campaign it would not likely be an issue for the candidates.

#1-Such a small % of US Citizens drink wine and even a smaller %---probably less than 2% would ever buy a bottle that would cost more than $20.

#2-The Democratic Party Front Runner ,John Kerry, would likely talk a big game. But in the end, he would increase the taxes 5 fold and then have even more restrictions.

#3-GW Bush would likely look at the request on wine and say....you think if we had more wine available it would lead to more unwarranted pregnancy. So to eliminate pregnancy and reduce abortions we have to eliminate the flow of wine. Then he would blame a 3rd world country for the problem and bomb them to hell. Then he would toast with a nice glass of home brewed ice tea(sweetened).

No...we need to leave the politicians out of this. Let the courts here handle what remains and slowly tear down the walls of prohibition that remain.

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.

Ian, I'm not sure what would happend to you if you took excess alcohol into the US, but if you declare it, probably nothing would happen. Canadians used to take cases of beer to hockey games to Buffalo and nobody bothered them. When I come back to Canada with 4-5 bottles of Tokaji Aszu, nobody stops me. At least, I have not been stopped. Legally I could bring in 1.5 liters of alcohol. Sometimes I exceeded

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

Just have some prosciutto with that Lambrusco.

Ian,

I don't think you are risking much if you are upfront about what you are bringing in, at least in California. I have been living in the Bay Area for about 4 years, and almost every trip to France is an opportuinty for me to bring back wines I bought over there. Last December, I brought back 50-ish bottles and a few magnums in special casing, declared them on the customs form, and when going through customs. We just got a "welcome home, sir" from the customs officer in SFO and went through.

My 2 cents,

J.

"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.

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

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

Mark Lipton

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

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

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)

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.

blablabla!

Plonk.

M.

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