Wine Doggy Bag Law in US (anything similar in Ontario?)

Salut/Hi Emery Davis,

le/on Thu, 12 Feb 2004 21:48:58 +0100, tu disais/you said:-

Good lord!! I create a heck of a fuss when punters - err clients try to feed human food to their pampered pooches. (AFAIC if the client wants me to feed the dog, s/he should order a meal and pay for it). I won't have animals at table.

I don't! I do my best to conform to local custom, in so far as it doesn't do too much violence to the way we like to live our lives.

"l'americain," I think

Chuckle.. despite being here for 14 years, we're "Les Anglais" although there are several other brit expatriates in the commune!

I don't do bunny like that, (I'm not over fond of turnips) although we do a recipe where it's marinated in red wine and cooked in that, with prunes. I also do a recipe for Mouton à la Poitevine, where slices of mutton leg are stewed with cognac and garlic - a lot of garlic - a GREAT deal of garlic. For the bunny, I serve a random red, something like Tour des Gendres Cuvée classique. For the mutton (not lamb, btw) I use a far bigger wine, a madiran or a big cahors. Until Oullins, I didn't have much Rhone wine. Intersting dilemma, with the calva pushing one way and the turnips (slightly caramelised, I imagine) giving a rich sweetness in a rather different direction. Completely off the wall suggestion. A big young Anjou villages.

Salut/Hi Tom S,

le/on Fri, 13 Feb 2004 02:52:54 GMT, tu disais/you said:-

Nope, that's absence. Absinthe spoonerises it.

(I drive a Honda).

On Fri, 13 Feb 2004 11:31:06 +0100, Ian Hoare said: [] ] >Back onT: just tried to find the wine to match rabbit with turnips and calvados; ] >attempted a '98 Rasteau (La Soumade Confiance) in the hope of standing up to ] >it, with weak results: it wilted in front of its adversary. Any ideas for what I might ] >have tried? "Really big" was a proverbial spam advertizement... ] ] I don't do bunny like that, (I'm not over fond of turnips) although we do a ] recipe where it's marinated in red wine and cooked in that, with prunes. I ] also do a recipe for Mouton à la Poitevine, where slices of mutton leg are ] stewed with cognac and garlic - a lot of garlic - a GREAT deal of garlic. ] For the bunny, I serve a random red, something like Tour des Gendres Cuvée ] classique. For the mutton (not lamb, btw) I use a far bigger wine, a madiran ] or a big cahors. Until Oullins, I didn't have much Rhone wine. Intersting ] dilemma, with the calva pushing one way and the turnips (slightly ] caramelised, I imagine) giving a rich sweetness in a rather different ] direction. Completely off the wall suggestion. A big young Anjou villages. []

Well, this is honestly a pretty massive Rasteau, bigger than any Cahors I can think of.

The bunny was a spur of the moment thing, as I discovered some fresh young ones next to my regular rabbit guy at market. He also had some red onions; thus the obligatory bacon, some fresh rosemary, and when I was reaching for cognac from the bar I hit a fruity young calva instead, and decided it would flatter the sweetness of the turnips -- a bit carmelized as you guessed. Hap hazard cooking, but the kids loved it at our weekly "family dinner." Never made it before, nor maybe ever again, but that's part of the fun, right?

I think the young Anjou is maybe a decent idea. Come to think of it, we've a good local stout (made by an english couple installed as "le brewery") that would have gone as well as anything.

-E

I have brought a lot of wine into the US and never had a problem with customs but have had problems with state officials. I brought a case of Grange into Hawaii and I had to pay for an importer's license (7 day permit was $14us) In Texas their state tax was more than the value of the wine.

Salut/Hi Bill,

le/on Fri, 13 Feb 2004 22:18:52 GMT, tu disais/you said:-

You're American, Bill. As a "furriner" I cannot bring one single bottle into MA (we were visiting a friend in Boston. I spent 20 minutes frothing at the mouth to the Customs person at the US emabassy in Paris, trying to find out what I could legally bring in. NONE duty free, NONE paying duty, NONE under any circumstances. Even if I choose to fly into a state with less puritanical rules, I would then have to be 100% certain that I knew what rules applied in every state through which I was passing on my way to visit (say) Vino in Seattle or Bill in Vancouver. While YOU as a Murrican might be prepared to take the risk of committing a felony, I as a furriner, living in France.... NO way, José.

Salut/Hi Anders Tørneskog,

le/on Thu, 12 Feb 2004 20:35:03 GMT, tu disais/you said:-

But not beer or ordinary wine. So it's not really the same as the total prohibition in the US.

One way of bumping up the demand for the "hard stuff" ;-))

I had no idea that you were on the terrorist list Ian. I had no idea that furriners could not be treated by the same rules us natives are. I took 6 bottles of Zinfandel into Australia a few years back and no one blinked an eye. I thought that I understood the US laws but this one baffles me.

Salut/Hi Bill,

le/on Sat, 14 Feb 2004 15:10:39 GMT, tu disais/you said:-

Well, there are some here who would probably regard me as little better!

I have to say I was both hurt, furious and smarting under a deep sense of injustice. I DID smuggle in one single half litre, because I was invited by a friend who adores good wines, and was going to produce some extremely rare gems, but I was sweating more than a little. US customs, Dept of agriculture and immigration were pretty intimidating even to me (and I'm not easily impressed) as a furriner, you know. It's not the best introduction to the good old US of A!

blinked an eye. I thought that I

I have little doubt that it comes down to a pretty evil combination of puritanism (history), parochialism (if the Federal Gvt allows it, WE won't), greed (some states want to keep the monopoly of alcohol sales) and the pork barrel (wholesalers who claim that the youth of the nation will be hopelessly corrupted). Apart from the most extreme Muslim countries, the USA has THE most draconian import rules in the world.

I try to be understanding, but it can be hard, Bill.

Customs regulations for people landing in the US should apply uniformly. Here is a link to the US customs site that should clarify. It seems to me that the customs agent was not obeying the regulations. You could file a complaint and apply for damages.

Copied from the suggested web-site......

Alcoholic Beverages

Nonresidents who are at least 21 years old may bring in, free of duty and Internal Revenue Tax, up to one liter of alcoholic beverage--beer, wine, liquor--for personal use. Quantities above the one-liter limitation are subject to duty and internal revenue tax.

In addition to federal laws, you must also meet state alcoholic beverage laws, which may be more restrictive than federal laws. This means that if the state in which you arrive permits less liquor, wine, or beer than you have legally brought into the United States, that state's laws apply to your importation of alcoholic beverages for personal use.

I disagree with Ian on one point though.

It appears that in Massachusetts, the zero tolerance law applies to residents and nonresidents alike,

An interesting article appears at

The thought of alcho-police sitting around writing the tag numbers of interstate cars outside wine shops did bring a smile to my face!!!!!

Likely issue as Ian is probably on the list of persons making to many Anti-American Statements and therefore subject to stiffer rules. :-)

Salut/Hi Bromo,

le/on Sat, 14 Feb 2004 16:13:23 GMT, tu disais/you said:-

No, Bromo, sadly, state law can override Federal law. And in any case, can you imagine the scenario? I'm stopped by a customs agent, he finds wine, and then I insist on his name so that I can file a complaint.

HOW many weeks would it take me to get out of customs?

FWIW Ian, I have friends from the UK, Sweden, Norway and Italy who visit on a fairly regular basis and they always bring wine and have never had a problem. In many cases even the duty was waived since they were only bringing 4-5 750 ml bottles. Additionally there aren't any roadblocks, checkpoints or bordercrossing points between the states. Often except for a road sign on the interstate highway you aren't really aware that you're in another State so unless you committed a serious crime I'm sure that you wouldn't even show up on the radar screen. Bi!!

Ian Hoare wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

USDA is one of the worst at making anyone feel at home. They have even given me grief over sealed bags of dog food made in the USA that I take with me when flying with the pooch. And a word of caution never knowingly admit to having visited a farm!!! being the son in law to Osama bin Laden would be better than to be a farm visitor.

and immigration were pretty intimidating

USDA is one of the worst at making anyone feel at home. They have even given me grief over sealed bags of dog food made in the USA that I take with me when flying with the pooch. And a word of caution never knowingly admit to having visited a farm!!! being the son in law to Osama bin Laden would be better than to be a farm visitor.

Try entering New Zealand if you know how to spell horse. And of course you have to be sprayed for bugs before you can get off the airplane.

--------------020300060009060401000700--

I am wrong - sorry.

Dunno.

Sorry to disagree. State Law never overrides Federal Law. In there is a governing Federal Law in the USA it always supercedes state laws.

Even on Wine.

It just so happens most laws on alcohol are a states rights issue. However in the case of what you are allowed to bring into this country will be the same no matter what airport you fly into. If would be uniform if you were landing in NYC, Boston, Seattle or Jackson Ms.

Sorry to disagree. Federal laws and federal constitution is law of the land. States may not like.

If you call your airline you are traveling on they can give you the rules. Even as a foreigner you can bring in wine. Unless you are Moslem...then all bets are off.:-)

This is an exaggeration:

"These days you will rarely see MAF Quarantine Officers spraying arriving aircraft before the passengers and crew disembark. This is because most airlines now either treat their aircraft with a residual insecticide or undertake spraying in-flight. Both methods are approved by MAF and the World Health Organisation (WHO)."

Quote from Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF)website.

--brian