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cdubee

Feb 17, 2007, 7:19 PM

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checking in a case of wine as luggage?

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I live in the wine region of California and next week I am flying to Guadalajara. I believe I am allowed to check two suitcases. Could I legally check a case of wine (well packed and taped up) as my second bag? I would love to give wine to my friends in Mexico. I did this one year on a trip to Vancouver, Canada. The box arrived a little beat up but the wine made it just fine.

Bloviator

Feb 18, 2007, 5:27 AM

Post #2 of 14 (1575 views)

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Re: [cdubee] checking in a case of wine as luggage?

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You are allowed six bottles, three each - actually 3 liters, so probably 4 700 ml bottles. Normally I have quit bringing wine back from CA as they are heavy and we have excellent Chilean, Argentinean, Australian, and surprising to me Mexican wines available here for reasonable prices. Still, on my next trip to SR, I'm going to bring back my six bottles from probably some of the same wineries that you are thinking of.

Of course you can hope to get a green light when you go through the airport, hold your breath, and hope, or can be honest and pay duty on the amount over your duty free allotment.

If you try to bring a whole case, you will probably end up with a rather hefty overweight charge depending on the airline you are using. I will never understand how Mexicans on lesser Mexican airlines can afford to take everything they own on the plane with them - five or so huge bags each.

(This post was edited by dlyman6500 on Feb 18, 2007, 5:33 AM)

Bubba

Feb 18, 2007, 5:59 AM

Post #3 of 14 (1570 views)

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Re: [cdubee] checking in a case of wine as luggage?

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cdubee:

If you try to bring in more than the allowed three bottles per person, they will confiscate the excess. Hell, they may confiscate everything if you irritate them. You will have had to lie about having anything to declare. That´s why we continue to store wine in California. I figure on our next trip north, we can get a room at the Fiesta Inn in Nuevo Loredo or a nice room in some other border town and bring in a case of wine by crossing twice with three bottles each each time. That way, I can return to Laredo to shop and get another What-a-Burger and Kryspy Cream.

lajollamis

Feb 18, 2007, 9:48 AM

Post #4 of 14 (1545 views)

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Re: [Bubba] checking in a case of wine as luggage?

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Bubba,

Were you the one that mentioned the "Dreaded Texas" in a post somewhere on here? What-A-Burger is a Texas institution. I dined regularly, many years ago, at the original one in Corpus Christi on Leopard Street. Used to live in San Antonio in my teens and made beach runs every weekend. With burgers like that, Texas can't be all bad. Oh, by the way. Ever find out anything about those Belgian beers?

Australian wines in Mexico? Praise the Lord! I love a nice glass of Penfold's once in a while. Even a bottle of Stonehaven Shiraz, tucked away for a few years, can yield a nice delight. What are some of the Australian brands that have been found down there? I am thrilled.

Mary Lou
Live life well!!!

Bubba

Feb 18, 2007, 5:36 PM

Post #5 of 14 (1515 views)

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Re: [lajollamis] checking in a case of wine as luggage?

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Ever find out anything about those Belgian beers?

Sorry, Mary Lou, we are in the process of remodeling a home in Chiapas and don´t get to Guadalajara much these days to look for those Belgian beers. I will be quite surprised to find Belgian beer in Chiapas but one never knows. What-a-Burger makes Texas OK for instance but I only found that out by driving through Laredo and mistaking What-a-Burger for the famous In-&-Out Burgers of California fame. Damn that What-a-Burger was good!

One should look around down here before worrying about bringing in California wines beyond the three bottle limit per person. There are very good wines available in Guadalajara and at Lake Chapala. You might also be surprised at what you find in other places outside of the obvious DF. For instance, much to our surprise, the Chedraui Supermarket in San Cristóbal de Las Casas has a good selection of French wines at favorable prices. This is amazing considering you can´t find peanut oil and a number of other things you may be used to finding back in the states.

For those of you just moving down, look around your new town before you worry about importing something from the states, You never know what sort of specialties your new town may have. For example, San Cristóbal is famous for its cured meats and sausages while those specialties are pretty mediocre at Lake Chapala. We have found sublime deep pit barbequed lamb tacos in Chiapas and barbequed rabbit stands. Try that at Lake Chapala. However, Chiapas has nothing remotely like Lake Chapala´s Super Lake grocery. Nobody in Mexico does, I´ll bet.

(This post was edited by Bubba on Feb 18, 2007, 5:41 PM)

Ed and Fran

Feb 18, 2007, 5:46 PM

Post #6 of 14 (1512 views)

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Re: [Bubba] checking in a case of wine as luggage?

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For instance, much to our surprise, the Chedraui Supermarket in San Cristóbal de Las Casas has a good selection of French wines at favorable prices.

When Carrefour (sp?) went under a year or two back, I think that Chedraui bought out a lot of their stock, including wines. I know we suddenly had a much bigger selection here in Tuxpan, and a lot of the bottles still had Carrefour labels. I've wondered if our selection here is still profiting from the Carrefour demise, or whether Chedraui is actually working at expanding their offerings.

Regards

Ed

Bubba

Feb 18, 2007, 6:13 PM

Post #7 of 14 (1506 views)

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Re: [Ed and Fran] checking in a case of wine as luggage?

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When Carrefour (sp?) went under a year or two back, I think that Chedraui bought out a lot of their stock, including wines. I know we suddenly had a much bigger selection here in Tuxpan, and a lot of the bottles still had Carrefour labels. I've wondered if our selection here is still profiting from the Carrefour demise, or whether Chedraui is actually working at expanding their offerings.

Ed:

We thought the same thing when we spotted that good French wine selection but we really don´t know if that is the reason since there are more European expats living in San Cristóbal than around Lake Chapala. There are also several quite good bistro style European restaurants in San Cristóbal with decent wine lists. What has been encouraging to us is that, a year and a half after we first noticed the French and other European wine selection at Chedraui, they still have a good, varied selection. Let´s all keep our fingers crossed. We know from experience, however, that the floor managers at Chedraui have no idea what they are selling and some earlier French wine selections are no longer available.

Chedraui still has a good selection of French dry roses and Alsacian wines and a selection of regional wines. Since you describe Tuxpan as less than extremely cosmopolitan, I think your Carrefour theory, unfortunately, may be correct. We´ll have to get in there and stock up before it´s too late.

Whatever, when the Bubbamobile heads down to Chiapas, there will be a care package in the backed filled with goodies found at Lake Chapala´s Super Lake from Planter´s Peanut Oil to Sadaf Extra Virgin Olive Oil to Maille Cornichons to Best Foods Mayo to you name it. Some things a man has to have.

Papirex

Feb 18, 2007, 6:28 PM

Post #8 of 14 (1502 views)

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Re: [Ed and Fran] checking in a case of wine as luggage?

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Ed and Fran

Feb 18, 2007, 7:00 PM

Post #9 of 14 (1497 views)

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Re: [RexC] checking in a case of wine as luggage?

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OK, here’s a chance for me to pick a nit. Carrefour didn’t
”go under.” They are still alive and doing well in many countries.

Poor choice of words on my part. I stand corrected. I was only referring to the fact that their operation here in Mexico ceased.

They eventually negotiated the sale of their Mexican stores to Chedraui. Chedraui already had many stores of their own in Mexico, which is probably why many people found items in Chedraui stores with Carrefour labels on them.

I didn't realize (or had forgotten) that Chedraui bought their stores. The wines were the only items that found their way up here with Carrefour labels.

Thanks for the clarification.

Ed

Bubba

Feb 19, 2007, 7:50 AM

Post #10 of 14 (1460 views)

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Re: [RexC] checking in a case of wine as luggage?

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OK, here’s a chance for me to pick a nit. Carrefour didn’t
”go under.” They are still alive and doing well in many countries. I believe their headquarters is in France.

Their Mexican holdings had not been profitable, but were at the break-even point for several years. The parent company had announced a year or more in advance of the sale, that they intended to sell their Mexican holdings, and put the money to better use elsewhere. That news was in all the papers here.

They eventually negotiated the sale of their Mexican stores to Chedraui. Chedraui already had many stores of their own in Mexico, which is probably why many people found items in Chedraui stores with Carrefour labels on them.

Yes, you can find good wines everywhere if you know what you are looking for. I am originally from Napa, California. Nobody I know there will now waste their money buying the over hyped and over priced wines grown there anymore. A fancy bottle and label does not make a fine wine. Having grown up in wine country, most of us know quite a bit about what makes a good wine. Most of the wine consumed in Napa by the real natives now comes from Chile, Australia, South Africa, etc.

Rex

While this is a little off subject, since this thread is about importing California wines into Mexico and Rex has made some generalizations here about both the demise of Carrefour and the price of Napa wines, a response is in order.

Carrefour Mexico, a partially owned subsidiary of the giant French discounter, may not have gone under technically, but they certainly were not a viable entity and no doubt would have been belly up by now. Their operations and the operations of other discount box chains were negatively impacted by the competition of the behemoth WalMart. But Carrefour made other mistakes in Mexico just a couple of which were lousy locations and skewed inventories. It wasn´t easy to sell French wines anyway in Mexico back in 2001 but that problem was exacerbated by their placement of stores in marginal areas such at the Tonalá Central Bus Station. The French had no idea what they were doing in Mexico - not surprisingly.

As for Napa wine pricing, I spent the last four years of my banking career as a commercial lender to wineries in the Napa Valley, Sonoma County, the California Central Valley, Oregon and Washington State. In that capacity, I loaned against wine inventories, both bulk and bottled, and land for vineyard development. Two brief comments about that:
* Napa wines are priced dearly and, in my view, overpriced for what one gets in comparison with other California fine wines. However, the demand is there and as long as it is prices of Napa wines will remain strong at the retail level and inventory turns will remain healthy. Someday, perhaps the market will crash but, for now, it just keeps getting stronger. Personally, I prefer French wines but that is a matter of taste.
* To generalize that Napans don´t buy Napa wines is silly. Napa County is a contradictory place. A "poor cousin" blue collar and farming community intermixed with filthy rich "Silicon Valley" real estate dabblers and vineyard hobbyists. Most Napa natives are relatively poor people who can´t afford Napa wine but that doesn´t mean that they are knowledgable about fine wine nor that Napa does not produce great wines.

Gotta go.

Papirex

Feb 19, 2007, 11:14 AM

Post #11 of 14 (1443 views)

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Re: [Bubba] checking in a case of wine as luggage?

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Bubba, maybe a little clarification is in order about the things I referred to in my post, Vis a Vis people in Napa not buying much Napa wine anymore. Of course, some people there do buy local wines, which are generally very good, sometimes fine, but now overpriced for what you get.

I was referring to people that I know, not everyone in Napa. That is what I meant by “real natives”. A real native, in my opinion, is someone that was born and raised in Napa, or that has lived there for many decades.

While I have been gone for so long that I am not now knowledgeable with the demographics of the area, the “people I know” there are not poor, they are people that I have known since I was a boy. It is now an expensive area to live.

Looks are deceiving. You might see one of my daughter’s father-in-law riding a tractor and working in a vineyard in the Berryessa Valley there. He is not just a farmhand, he owns the vineyard, and a total of over 9,000 acres, and he built and owns the only winery in The Berryessa Valley in Napa County.

I have a life-long friend in California, we grew up together, we met about the time we started grammar school. He is a former brother-in-law and is one of the uncles of my kids. We have remained best friends. He did very well in life, and is now a multi-millionaire. He lives most of the time in a house he owns right next to Silicon Valley near San Jose, and part-time in a house he owns in Napa. Other than the car he drives, no one would ever guess that he is wealthy. He is very generous, and not a skinflint. Guess where he buys his wine?

He goes to a wine shop in San Francisco. He takes a corkscrew and wine glass with him, and buys 3 or 4 bottles of wine, usually Chilean wine. He then goes out to his car and tastes the wines he just bought. (Yeah, a crime, open container in a car.) He then goes back in to the shop and buys a case of any of the wines he likes.

Good wine is like good music. If music sounds good, it doesn’t matter who the performer is. If wine tastes good for the variety you bought, it doesn’t matter whose name is on the label or where the grapes were grown.

While the label is often indicative of the quality of a wine, it is not the only measure to use. Many people in recent years have become “wine snobs”. They have taken classes on how to appreciate wine. That is as silly as taking a class to learn how to appreciate water. Those are the idiots that believe a good wine can never be cheap.

I have worked at several of the wineries in The Napa Valley when they were expanding their capacity. There are the ancient aging barrels for aging the wine that the public sees on the winery tours. What the public doesn’t see are the double walled stainless steel aging tanks, they look like the tanks at a refinery. We piped chilled glycol into them to keep the aging wine in them from overheating in the sun.

I have seen the areas where the vintners keep imported wines from all over the world. I have seen the chemists tasting those wines so they can analyze them and duplicate the flavors. To me, there is nothing quaint about the wine industry. It is, after all, an industry.

Of course, I am well aware that you can’t get a good tortilla in Mexico if you pay less than 5 Bucks each for them Smile

Rex

"The supreme happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved" - Victor Hugo

Bubba

Feb 19, 2007, 4:19 PM

Post #12 of 14 (1416 views)

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Re: [RexC] checking in a case of wine as luggage?

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Rex says:

Looks are deceiving. You might see one of my daughter’s father-in-law riding a tractor and working in a vineyard in the Berryessa Valley there. He is not just a farmhand, he owns the vineyard, and a total of over 9,000 acres, and he built and owns the only winery in The Berryessa Valley in Napa County.

Yeah, I know, Rex. I think he was one of my clients. Bubba. as a commercial banker for over 30 years, never made loan decisions based on the way someone looked or talked. Many of my clients, who were wealthy beyond the imaginations of most who read here (including Bubba), looked like hell if you passed them in the street or driving through the Berryessa Valley. One of my most inportant clients owned Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory which he rented to the DOE. He owned one clip-on tie he used to wear only when he came into my office driving down from his Marin County aerie from which he could view the entire Bay Area.

I used to drink with the ancient ones at the Veteran´s Home in Yountville (Napa County) who used to sneak out when Nurse Cratchet wasn´t looking and imbibe in a few drinks with Bubba. One old goober was always laughing that his property in Yountville was worth a fortune because Silicon Valley billionaires would pay unbelievable prices for property in and adjacent to that village. He laughingly told me how ashamed he and his friends had been to be from Yountville when he was a kid and it was a poverty stricken orchard town. He told me they were so embarrassed they used to tell people they were from Imola (local joke).

You don´t have to tell me about the stainless steel tanks. Who do you think financed them?

Anyway, before we get locked, let me say I enjoyed the discourse.

(This post was edited by Bubba on Feb 19, 2007, 4:21 PM)

smokesilver

Feb 19, 2007, 5:44 PM

Post #13 of 14 (1402 views)

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Re: [Bubba] checking in a case of wine as luggage?

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Bubba, I read somewhere many years ago that over 40% of the cost of California wines was for debt service. I suspect that with all the incessant expansion in Califoenia wines that it might be much greater i.e., more of the cost of 'their wines' is for 'cost' not quality.

Bubba

Feb 19, 2007, 6:42 PM

Post #14 of 14 (1393 views)

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Re: [smokesilver] checking in a case of wine as luggage?

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Smokesilver:

This is a complicated subject not suitable for this thread. We´ll get locked for sure. Just ask yourself what came first, the chicken or the egg. That is not meant as a wise-assed answer. Wine prices are market driven and not that elastic. Long term debt for capital acquisition is incurred when wineries are in expansion mode because of growth in revenues and debt service is dependent on cash flow generated by increased revenues that are moderated by price inceases and on and on ad nauseum.

That was another part of Bubba´s life and revisiting it gives Bubba a headache. I suddenly feel a need for a glass of that cheap Chilean wine I drink these days while my good California wine sits in a cellar NOB..

(This post was edited by Bubba on Feb 19, 2007, 7:02 PM)