Buying and Shipping Wine in France
Hello! I’m looking for advice on buying/shipping wine in France. We are taking the Savoring France river cruise soon and we considered buying a wine suitcase to fill while there, but Tauck ‘suggests’ only one piece of luggage per person. Do the wineries that we visit offer to ship wine should we decide to stock up? Thanks, Tauckers!
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I have not taken that particular tour, but have visited several wineries on other tours. All of them offered an option to ship the wine to your home, and I would imagine that the wineries you visit will be no different. If you want to make sure, you could ask Tauck for the name of the wineries and contact them directly to confirm that shipping will be available.
Thanks @maximgr
I have had the same experiences as maximgr in Austria (wine) and in Denmark (akvavit), the latter being purchased in markets and mailed from post office. It's so much easier having items mailed. Happy wine shopping! We loved the Savoring France tour.
First off remember you can only bring back 1 liter per person duty free. Might be a good idea to research what you'll go thru at US customs if you want more.
As for Tauck's baggage limit, that is primarily due to baggage handling which is more of an issue with land tours where you are changing hotels every day or 2. For that cruise the handling would be: the driver picking you up at the airport, the day you take the train, arriving/departing the Paris hotel, and the day you go to the airport. For the airport transfers and hotel bellboys, you could always give them an extra tip on top of what Tauck pays. There is plenty of space in your cabin for an extra bag even in the smallest cabin class.
Another alternative might be to bring special bubble wrap wine bags to fill when you get there then bring home in your luggage. When we fly business and can check a 2nd bag we always bring a collapsible bag that we fill with dirty clothes, etc to make room for souvenirs.
Thanks @Claudia Sails - good info! My husband has used those wine bubble wrap things before. We will bring some.
Thanks @kfnknfzk - thanks for the info! We’re very excited!
amyhummers - Be sure to save room for all the special "gifts" Tauck will bestow upon you. Of the river cruises taken, this one had the most items given to us....but I won't spoil the surprises! Enjoy and please report back after your trip.
You're welcome. Savoring France is almost exactly the same as our first Tauck tour and still our favorite.
Oooooooooh, @kfnknfzk - how exciting!!!!!
Our trip was in 2019, and our "assigned" tour director was Elisabeth--so caring and personable.
Just to clarify, duty (sales tax) is based on alcohol content, so you pay less on wine; ~ $1 - $2 per bottle...a pittance in my opinion. Some states also have regulations. If you find something you just have to have, buy a case and ship it home. You can then "savor" and reminisce about your trip at home. Besides, who wants to deal with a potential customs check after a long flight home! Skål.
Warm wishes!
If you go to Valrona chocolate it's another place to stock up on items to bring home. The itinerary looks slightly different now than in 2014. We didn't get a class in chocolate making but could taste test all their chocolates. I wished I'd stocked up on the one that tasted like milk chocolate with caramel (caramelia ?). Here's a photo of the tasting display.
Valrona chocolate is everywhere and anywhere these days. I would not save luggage space for that! I think United will hand them out at their Trans-Continential flights in business class.
Wine, especially red wine, can be affected by heat. If you ship from France to the US, make sure you choose a fast shipping option and hope the wine doesn't get too hot in transit. Carrying might be better because you can keep the package in fairly cool surroundings.
We had wine shipped from our Sicily tour . Don’t forget it’s quite heavy to put in a suitcase.
Thank you @British @MikeHenderson @henrypoon_66 and double thanks to @Claudia Sails @kfnknfzk all very helpful. Now I want chocolate and wine for breakfast!
Henrypoon is correct in part - basic Valrhona chocolate can be found at US retailers like Amazon, King Arthur flour, etc but as you can see from the picture Valrhona has a very wide range that isn't found outside their stores or are very expensive.