What happens to the bottles now? Sold or destroyed?
Any WBers have any good wine-related customs stories they want to share?
1 Like
Not my story, I once heard of a guy who was on the Sine Qua Non list and had the bottles send to the U.S. He tried to cross the border in Vancouver with several cases. He had receipts in hand and was prepared to pay the duty. The guy at the border crossing looked the wines up on the internet and insisted he had to pay duty on the secondary market value!
3 Likes
Only anecdotal, but back in 2009 my daughter and I crossed the border north of Havre MT. That Canadian crossing guard, by the looks of his nose and all related signs, likely was more of a Scotch drinker. 
These two guys should have crossed there . . . . 
1 Like
Driving from Germany to France via Basel, accidentally took the road passing through Switzerland (probably for a few hundred meters!) and had a couple of cases of German and Alsatian wines in the boot. In the end, they let me go without imprisonment or a huge fine :)!!
2 Likes
I presume it shouldn’t be a problem in Switzerland, as it is in the same Schengen area as France and Germany. I know of folks from everywhere Schengen, including UK, that go for long roadtrips to load up car trunks with cases of wines purchased from Spain/Italy/France/Germany.
Edited: I was in Toronto back in May, landed at Pearson airport and brought 4 bottles of wines with me from the US. Declared with Customs officer and he simply waved me in.
1 Like
Still crossing in/out of EU, as Swiss is not a EU member, Schengen is unrelated to duties, same for UK now
4 Likes
There has to be more to this story than is being reported. Why did they search the guy’s car in the first place? Something tells me this isn’t the first time this guy has been searched at the border and he’s on the radar screen for the Canucks because of past infractions.
While I’m a U.S. citizen (the guy in the story is a permanent resident alien of Canada), I’ve been back and forth over the border many times, usually with a couple of bottles of wine. Never had to pay a nickel and never got searched.
1 Like
Thanks.
Am one of few clueless Amercans regarding what’s going on there on Schengen and other regional functions.
UK was never part of schengen either!
Two bottles per person for USA citizens entering Canada. Not the same for Canadians returning home.
1 Like
This happened to someone I know some years back at Pearson, I think the duty alleged was around $3000. I’m not sure what the outcome was, I know he was fighting it.
That is not uncommon when you declare the wine.
?
For residents, 1.5L of wine if away for more than 48 hours
2 Likes
So you just get to pick any two bottles for no duty then all the others you pay on? Sounds like a major mistake by this dude…
I believe the wine is supposed to be destroyed. No idea of what if any audit on that.
They can also seize the car. And a track record definitely increases chance of a more thorough search.
Yes.
Damn. I once brought back a couple mags of 2005 DRC La Tâche from Canada that Hank Gillespie kindly sold me. Can’t remember if declared but I know I paid no duty. Glad those weren’t seized.
The wine gets destroyed.
I am Canadian who has crossed the border with many bottles of wine over the last 40 years. I always am honest about the amount, the value and how long I have been away. The consequences are too extreme if you get caught. Vehicle seizure, huge fines and the loss of the wine.
Often after telling the officer what we have, they wave us through. If it’s busy or they realize you are just a normal citizen who has a strange hobby you skate. Also recently the officers were in contract negotiations and as part of their work to rule campaign they weren’t concerning themselves with the bother of collecting the duty and taxes.
The guy in this story deserves the punishment he is receiving. The amount of BCLDB mark up is capped out at around $100 a bottle, so he would have paid around 12% of the bottles value in taxes plus the capped out markup.
1 Like
If he’d just said nothing to declare they probably would’ve just waved him through and he’d be committing the same offense. Declaring a bunch (but not all) of expensive wine seems like the worst possible strategy.
1 Like
This is completely anecdotal, but going into Canada was crazy strict. They asked me a million questions and STILL flagged my car to be searched, followed by a mini-interview justifying why I was going to Canada. I was bringing 4 bottles of wine into Canada (2 per person, the duty-free limit) and they even asked me if they were all 750mL bottles or if I had any magnums.
On the way back into the US it was a rubber stamp, “coming back into the USA? Have a good day.”
1 Like