And what if you had to do it all again? But from France...

[Chris_V]

Of course this depends a bit on the maturity of your cellar. By the sounds of it it’s on the younger side. If the cellar is more mature I suppose the clock could be ticking.

You’ve said you’re up in the air on whether you’ll ever move back. I’d accumulate a lot while you’re there regardless. From what I understand, when/if you move back to Canada you can bring your cellar with you duty free. So I think you’d be able to bring it all back home with you, bypassing the whole Canadian lack of mature vintages and high pricing.

[Chris_Seiber]

Was just thinking about this myself, but substitute Italy for France. We’re making retirement plans and there’s a decent chance that we’ll wind up in Italy. My cellar is about 600 bottles, and it’s about 40% Ital, 40% California, with France a distant 3rd. Do I haul Barolo, Barbaresco and Brunello to Italy? Do I stop buying them here, knowing that I’ll likely move before they hit readiness? We’re going to Italy this fall to do some scouting, and, though I am already familiar with the wine culture in parts of the country, checking out access (esp where we would likely live) will be part of the trip.

With Barolo and Barbaresco, it’s all the more reason you’d want to keep your wines, given the age those need to show their best. Even though you’re moving to Italy. It’s not like you can just stroll to the corner wine shop from your new villa and buy 2001 Barolo for cheap.

And assuming you still want to drink your California wines, those will be very hard/expensive to obtain in Italy if it’s even possible, so I’d bring those too.

[Arv_R]

As someone who has moved cellars a few times (although not internationally) I would recommend you avoid doing it. Don’t let your life get tethered to those bottles. Enjoy them while you can, rebuild your collection/enthusiasm in your new home.

Perhaps you can find a friend with spare space in a cold cellar who might hold these for you.

[LasseK1]

First of all good luck on your new journey.

I guess i would suggest waiting a year+ before taking a decision. See how you like life there before wasting time and money on moving your cellar. Plenty of fun wines to explore during that period.

[Richard_Foxall]

Was just thinking about this myself, but substitute Italy for France. We’re making retirement plans and there’s a decent chance that we’ll wind up in Italy. My cellar is about 600 bottles, and it’s about 40% Ital, 40% California, with France a distant 3rd. Do I haul Barolo, Barbaresco and Brunello to Italy? Do I stop buying them here, knowing that I’ll likely move before they hit readiness? We’re going to Italy this fall to do some scouting, and, though I am already familiar with the wine culture in parts of the country, checking out access (esp where we would likely live) will be part of the trip.

With Barolo and Barbaresco, it’s all the more reason you’d want to keep your wines, given the age those need to show their best. Even though you’re moving to Italy. It’s not like you can just stroll to the corner wine shop from your new villa and buy 2001 Barolo for cheap.

And assuming you still want to drink your California wines, those will be very hard/expensive to obtain in Italy if it’s even possible, so I’d bring those too.

Yeah, the Cali wines will have to come with me, unless I leave them here and drink them on return trips. I have seen older vintages of the killer Bs when I traveled in Italy here and there, at cellars and wine shops in the right places, but there would be some challenges.

[Patrick_Taylor]

Congrats. We have been here 30 months and love it.

Bear in mind you can order from anywhere in the EU seemlessly. Often delivery is actually cheaper from Germany than France.

Enjoy it, assume you have someone to help with the (somewhat endless) paperwork. If you need anything shout.

I just checked out your shop, and it is beautiful.

[Russell_Faulkner]

That’s very kind! Thank you.

[Mikael_OB]

Congratulations and hope you will enjoy it here in Europe!

As others have mentioned, it’s very easy to order wines from across other EU countries. In some cases you can also find wines in Switzerland at favorable prices due to the lower sales tax (VAT).

Another benefit is that you can quite often order from producers directly in France, or even better visit the cellars easily as you mentioned as well.

You will be very centrally located (from a wine perspective) in Europe and the Northern and some central regions within Italy will be at easy reach for weekend trips, same goes for most regions in Germany. For a bit longer holiday you can easily drive to Spain further south and east of Italy, as well as to Croatia, Slovenia or Austria for example. Then of course rest of France and Switzerland.

The opportunities are endless, if you need any suggestions for good online retailers just DM me and I will share some of my trusted (and well priced) sources.

I’m sure you’ll have a great time and fun to get to restart with a new cellar!

[Morgan_S]

Flying into Switzerland its 2.5 CHF per bottle over the limit. I believe its 5 liters a person limit, so thats 13 bottles without the fee for 2 adults.

[Phil_T_r_o_t_t_e_r]

Flying into Switzerland its 2.5 CHF per bottle over the limit. I believe its 5 liters a person limit, so thats 13 bottles without the fee for 2 adults.

That gets the bottle into Switzerland but they would still be subject to the French VAT if I want to bring them back to France (for the amount over the exclusion). If at some point we end up living in Switzerland, there is a 200L exclusion of you wish to bring in your wine cellar. Over 200L, I can’t remember what the cost is but it’s a lot cheaper than France. But we’d have to live in Switzerland for this to happen…