I am planning a trip to France in the summer of 2014 and plan to visit some of the wine producing regions. Of course I'd be interested purchasing some of the wines that are not sold in the US. My question - how do I get them home to the US? Can I ship small quanities for personal use? Do I need to have an import/export house handle it? I did an internet search and that got me even more confused.
Answer From Expert Roger Bohmrich MW
Yours is a common question and the options are indeed confusing. The idea is very appealing: find some great wines which are not available in the US and ship them home. Unfortunately, there are numerous barriers, both legal and logistical. A private individual is allowed to enter the US with one liter of alcohol - just over a single standard bottle of wine. I know anecdotally of many wine lovers who have brought back much more on the plane and have had no problem at Customs, perhaps paying only a modest duty (and state tax, if applicable). First, you'll need to purchase protective shipping cartons suitable for air travel, which may or may not be easily available at the producer. Bear in mind also that, unless you're flying first class, you'll have an excess baggage fee on most airlines. Travelers do risk having their precious cargo confiscated by US Customs. By all means, if you decide to take that chance, declare the wine on the official form to avoid making the situation worse. Shipping wine yourself from France is also a possibility, but hardly a perfect one, and there are some companies who apparently do so - for a fee, of course. This is more difficult than ever given the restrictions imposed by bio-terrorism regulations. I am not in a position to recommend any such transporters as I simply do not have enough truly reliable information. Your best option is to contact an importer in your state (typically, a wholesaler also has the requisite Federal permit)to see if they would agree to help you by purchasing the wine from the French producer and passing it through the authorized chain of licensees. It would be ideal if that importer is already buying other wines from the winery in question and can consolidate your items with a regular container. It would help to have a friend in the right position, because for the importer there will be many annoying details handling such a shipment. Another point is that any wine entering US trade channels must have its labeling approved and registered with the Federal government. And, the importer/wholesaler must sell the wine to a retailer, not to you as a consumer. If they are in one of the few states which allow an importer to hold a retail license as well, you could purchase the wine from their retail division. In most states, the wine would have to be sold to you using an independent retailer - of course, everyone will want some sort of commission! All said, I would recommend you try to single out a very few producers and contact their US agents in advance to see if they would agree to help "clear" products which are not among their current offerings. If this is a dead end, then just take good notes and concentrate on wines which will in fact be imported once the vintage you taste at the winery is released to their US importer. I don't doubt you'll find many wines you like. Good luck working through this challenge!
