My son is interested in shipping some wine home from France. We pack carry-on only.
We will be in Paris (Sat and Sun), Bayeux (4 nights) and Rouen (1 night). Maybe some Cidre in Normandy?
Do you have any suggestions of where to go to purchase the wine at an establishment that will ship? Do you have an estimate of the cost?
TIA.
One thing is to buy an inexpensive suitcase there and put the wine in there packed with your dirty clothes and some bubble wrap and check it on the way home.
Sam,
That is a good idea.
On one of the food tours I took in Paris, we went for a tasting at thewine shop La Derniere Goutte”. They ship.
https://ldgparis.com/
Unfortunately a few years ago France severely increased postal rates for sending things to the States. It used to be a little more expensive than I would have liked, but I would still send things. With the change, I haven't mailed anything for years. My guess is that the cost to check an extra suitcase on the way home will be much more economical than shipping something. I wish I had better news.
Thank you for the information!
Have done this many times! I’m not sure how many bottles you are talking about, but if it’s 6 or less, bring a cheap piece of luggage and buy some wine sleeves on Amazon. They work great!
Shipping wine is fraught with US import laws. And it depends on yoiur state. Some places you have to import through a liquor wholesaler for example. And it will be crazy expensive. you can take with you what you can pack and check in on the plane. My son used to pack up a case as luggage and never lost a bottle. We have occasionally taken a bottle in the suitcase when we found ourselves with a very good undrunken bottle. Mostly not worth it. You can buy cider in the US including some pretty funky NOrman cider. IMHO not worth the hassle, but if you do it be sure to let everyone here know how it worked out.
If you pack it, you must declare on entry. And it's not limited, just might pay a few bucks for any above the one liter allowance. Often they dont want to bother.
If we find some wine at a winery that we really like, or just want the souvenir, we ask if they have a US distributor in our home state. Then buy some when we get home. Obviously small producers would be unlikely to have that option. It would be a shame to pay an arm and a leg to get a shop to ship it to the US, and find its available through a shop here.
Last year we bought a small carry on rolling bag in Niice and filled it with wine wrapped in plastic bubble wrap. Our tickets allowed two checked bags each, but we only had one each flying over, so there was no cost for it as luggage. It arrived safely and no one cared about duties despite being declared.
This year we brought a rolling wine suitcase we bought in Beaune a few years ago. It holds 12 bottles and is protected with styrofoam.
After your advice, we will just need to drink more on our trip and forget bringing some home. I don't want to lug a whole other suitcase through Belgium and Luxembourg.
Sante'!
UPDATE
My son did not fall in love with French wine, but he did fall in love with cidre and Calvados.
He purchased 2 bottles of Calvados that are not available in the US.
I purchased a small, hard sided spinner in Luxembourg City for the return home.
I declared the alcohol at customs, but the agent was not interested and waved us on. We were also chosen to have our bags x-rayed, which was a new experience for us. No troubles.
Checking a bag slowed us down about 12 minutes.
Thank you for sharing the update!
