Packing wine

We've brought home anywhere from 6-9 bottles of wine from France on numerous occasions, with no breakage. My wife is very good at packing, and used a combination of 3 bottle carry boxes from wineries and clothing. That being said, I wouldn't recommend doing what you're thinking. First of all, if it happens on your way home, you've got plenty to wear at home and can wash what was stained; but if it happens on the way to somewhere, you can be stuck with no wearable clothes. Secondly, even if Norwegians prefer the kind of wine you say, that doesn't mean that you can't find other, decent wines there. They just may be more costly than you're used to.

I agree with Robert. Returning is a good idea. Going in is not. After many successful trips bring home wine in checked luggage, we finally lost a bottle. Big mess. Still wearing some pink underwear. Depending on your airports you might be able to buy wine at a duty free shop and carry it on the plane. It would have to be your last leg into Norway. That would be the only way I would do it.

I have brought home many bottles of wine, from California and France. I cushion well, and often enclose them in a plastic bag, just in case. I bought a neoprene type bottle carrier on Amazon to keep wine cold for picnics. It carries two bottles. It has worked well for bringing wine home from trips. I also have seen that people use "water wings", the inflatable that people put on kids arms for swimming. I bet you could search Pinterest and on google for tips.
I always keep in mind that a bottle could break so I really only buy wines to take home that are a good value. For example, we purchased delightful wine in Vouvray for about 7 Euro. I too would worry about wine breaking at the beginning of the trip.
You could think about trying some boxed wines prior to your trip. If there are some you like, that would be an option. I've had some decent box wines and I even see smaller boxes now that contain about two glasses or so. (Trader Joe's) Also, you could ask the Forum for more details about purchasing wine in Norway. Perhaps people would provide details on actual experiences.

I have only spent a few days in Norway, and certainly did not notice anything out of the ordinary about the wine that was available. Although alcohol is very expensive, I was surprised that there seemed less concern about the amount served. In Britian, wine is served in specific measures (125ml, 175 ml, 250 ml.) In Norway, they seemed jujst to pour it in.

The Norwegian government wine board (Vinmonopolet) does buy some very good wine, but it is very expensive. High cost is a government policy to limit alcohol consumption, and it works. The Norwegians I know seldom drink wine while at home ( but let loose while on vacation outside of Norway).

If you are concerned about broken bottles in your luggage, you should not carry the wine. You will be able to fine nice dry white wines and good quality reds (probably from Chile or Argentina), although you will pay premium prices. And if you are in small towns there may not be a Vinmonopolet store, so you need to plan ahead. Also note that the stores have limited hours, especially on weekends.

Do you have a link to the article you saw about poor quality wine in Norway? I am curious about their point of view.

Amazon sells various bottle protectors. Wine Diapers, various air filled sleeves. Choose white, so you don't have to contend with pink underwear on the road a la Frank.

Agree with those above who suggest not taking wine along on your outbound flight (for the reasons stated). On the way home, sure, but too many potential problems if you arrive in Europe with a disaster in your luggage.

That said, for pretty safe/reliable wine bottle transport (on the way home), go on amazon and look for the various travel wine containers. There are multiple products (sleeves, pouches) that you can slip around a bottle that provide both good padding and with absorbent properties in the event the bottle does break. It's not 100% fool-proof but adds a good degree of protection.

We use the sleeve brand called Wine Skins and have never had breakage. The sleeve seals at the top so, theoretically, leakage would be contained.
A problem with bringing several bottles would be that it adds a lot of weight to your luggage.

There will be plenty of different good wines available; it is just they will be more expensive than wines here. You will have to buy wine at the state run stores. You can check prices here:
https://www.vinmonopolet.no

Choose the "varer" link and then the link for either red, white, or rose.

One broken bottle and your trip will be spent replacing your clothes at great expense. Even to those returning and who bring wine I would ask why? The distribution of wines worldwide negates any need to transport wine other than as a sentimental souvenir. In Norway you will have a variety of wines available. Yes, more expensive, but so is everything else. You’re not bringing your own food, right?

Maybe you could have your favorite winery ship it to your destination. When we buy wines overseas I always have them ship it home rather then myself pack it home.

We went to the state run liquor stores in Norway and bought what we wanted. Can you buy duty free?

After taking home a bottle of port a few years ago from Portugal and despite being in a protective cover and in a plastic bag, it broke, not only turning everything red, but also shredding most of the clothes in the case, I have never done this subsequently. It’s not worth the risk.

Wine in a box! Perfect solution to take with you. (Only half-serious)

How are you guys bringing so mk uch wine back to the states from Europe? I thought there was a 1 liter maximum allowed per person? If I can bring home more I would surely throw out my clothes to make room :)

I do have the wine bottle shaped bubble wrap. It seals pretty well with an adhesive strip. I also put that in a large ziplock bag just in case.....then carefully it pack clothes around it. On the way home we check our carry on.

How are you guys bringing so mk uch wine back to the states from Europe? I thought there was a 1 liter maximum allowed per person?

It all comes down to how risk averse you are. The number of people passing through 'nothing to declare' channels trying desperately to not look guilty must be huge.

As galling as it is to see very good wines selling for €5 in France, Spain etc it never sems worth the risk of breakage or taking up valuable weight allowance to pack a few bottles to take home.

Flying into Norway I'd probably buy some duty free from the airport where Norway will be my final destination.

Here's another idea, which of course depends on your airlines baggage policies... could you not simply devote one of your allotted checked bags to wine (and other liquids) only? That checked "bag" doesn't even necessarily need to be a bag, it could be a box or even a well-padded duffle. You'd need to keep weight under whatever threshold it needs to be, and you'd still need to use a carry on for all your clothing, but this might help you do what you're trying to do without any risk to your clothes in case of breakage. You'd have two bags, but one will be full of good and reasonably priced wine... : )

Another option would be the creative use of two pieces of luggage, assuming your airline luggage allotment allows it. I have a soft-sided set of luggage in which the standard carry-on roller-bag nests inside the next largest bag (which also has rollers). When I don't have anything extra, I simply nest my carry on in the larger bag, zip it up and check it, then roll it away once I retrieve it from baggage claim. If I end up buying lots of stuff, or need to bring liquids with me larger than 3.4 oz, I can separate the two pieces, put that stuff in the larger checked bag, with the rest going in my carry-on, which I carry on.

That does require the extra steps of checking and retrieving luggage, but it may be worth it if you want to ensure that you have that perfect bottle, at a reasonable cost, ready to help you toast those gorgeous fjord views...

kathy, there is no limit on how much wine or alcohol you can bring back to the US. You are allowed one liter DUTY FREE. Meaning you can bring back one liter, without paying any tax. More than that you may have to pay tax (duty). But you have to declare it on entering and the inspector will tell you if and how much tax to pay. People imply that you have to smuggle it in somehow. Not true. I have been with people that brought back whole cases of wine. Its just not easy to pack and check.

If you dont declare it, and they catch you with it, then you are in trouble.

I was curious and looked up the Norway customs regulations. For visitors, they are surprisingly liberal. You can each bring in 6 bottles of wine (4.5 liters) plus some beer, duty free ( assuming you are not also bringing in tobacco or distilled spirits).

Anything over that, up to 27 bottles total (!) will incur a duty/tax of 45 NOK per bottle or 60 NOK per liter. That's about $6-$8.

https://www.toll.no/en/goods/alcohol-and-tobacco/quotas/

I still don't think it is worth all the trouble.

Are you bringing the wine to drink at your hotel or do you plan to bring it in to a restaurant? Is it the norm to bring one's own wine into a restaurant in Norway?

Seems like a lot of bother for what may not be a 'problem'

If you Google the search term 'wine luggage' you'll run across multiple sites that sell suitcases devoted solely to transporting wine. This will mean a checked bag, of course, but you'll be able to transport bottles of wine in a suitcase dedicated to that purpose.

Kathy, You can bring home as much wine as you want, you just may need to pay a duty on it. And a duty on some of the wine I buy in France wouldn't be much. That said, I always declare everything. "Museum books, PASTEURIZED cheese and some wine". They never "ask how much?" I think it is because I don't look all that interesting, haha.
Another thought, when I went to Iceland the cheapest place to buy wine, beer and alcohol was the duty free at the airport right at arrival, perhaps Norway is similar. In your situation, I would probably bring a smallish box of decent enough wine and then wing it once you arrive in Norway.

Thanks everyone! I am re-thinking about bringing the wine with us. But, I also bought some wine sleeves in case I do decide to bring a bottle or two.

My last two trips to Europe, I've come back with 6-8 various bottles of wine/spirits - not including duty free. I like to find stuff you cant get in the US. It's the only reason I travel with a larger bag. I always list everything on the form. Candy, chocolate, souvenirs, Picon, Champagne, wine, gin, cookies - like that. When asked, I say, just what's on the form. They just wave me through. No duty.

On my last trip I brought back some vacuum wrapped cheese from Amsterdam,and that actually caused me more trouble than anything else I've brought back. I declared it along with everything else, and had to go into the separate line for the Ag inspection. They sent my luggage through the X Ray machine or whatever and even with all of the bottles that were in there all the inspector said to me was thank you for declaring the cheese.

If you are under the $$ amount, and don't appear to be bringing it back for commercial use, they don't seem to be too fussed.

It seems to me they have bigger fish to fry these days. Of course I say that, so when I come through the next time they'll probably pull me aside!

So this is what we are going to do. I bought a used beat up carry on size luggage that we will just leave when the six bottles of wine are gone, but they will be the only thing in this suitcase ( so no need to worry about clothes getting ruined). We will not have to pay extra because my husband and I are going to pack light in carry on size luggage and take that on the plane with us and our girls will have somewhat bigger suitcases each. So 2 carry-on's, 3 suitcases to check. I also bought wine sleeves and the wine is packed very well. I plan to leave this luggage at our destination when the wine is finished. I will report back at how this worked out. I just really wanted to bring our own wine with us.

I’m hoping your used carry on is a hard side and relatively leak proof. If those bottles break you might ruin other peoples belongings even though yours are OK. What a horrible way to begin a trip-being met by an agent with other folks ruined bags. Hope your insurance covers that one since your bag is not made for this purpose. I wonder when you are going to drink the stuff? Do restaurants allow BYOB? I looked at the wine monopoly site in Norway and yes, they have a limited inventory but it’s not bad. We love wine, we visit the wine country in California 4-6 times/year, drink wine with dinner every night, have a sizable collection. Still, I’d never do this, but to each his own. Good luck!