Wine Pricing - Canada and US

[Markus_S]

… I am forced to buy them at high prices in the US if I want any … Bartolo Mascarello, G. Rinaldi, Allemend, Gonon, etc.)

Uh, these are all expensive ans unavailable for us Americans too!

[Chris_V]

Owen, I live in Ontario and generally agree. We often pay more for for just about everything, but many Italian producers are cheaper here. I don’t know why but suspect it has to do with mark-ups. Perhaps distributors and retailers have higher margins on Italian wine in the US, whereas here in Ontario everything is on a fixed mark-up model.

When I travel the the US I always bring back French and American wines and as along as I can avoid paying duty on my way back I save a bunch of money and can find things I can’t find back home.

I rarely buy Italian wine in the US. Especially not anything on release. Your example of Il Poggione is a good one. I’ve been buying the Normale at retail here since the 2006 vintage and have been paying $59 - $75 CAD (taxes and shipping included), which seems to be consistently cheaper than in the US. Using wine-searcher I’m also not seeing the prices John indicates on Tignanello.

[Victor_Hong]

More like a shear than drift… anyway…

One thing (among many) I find annoying with the KGBO is the way they drop producers. They will bring in a wine for a couple of years then stop. Makes it hard to build verticals etc. Unless of course it’s $25 Aussie Shiraz or Cal Cab in which case the tankers line up at the docks year in year out.

When the wind is very light, your boat can drift with currents or tide, and the sail telltales can also indicate wind shear.

[John_Morris]

The Tignanello is available many places south of the border for $60-$70. The Canadian dollar is about 77 cents US at the moment, so that price (=US$77) is slightly higher than you’d pay at home.

John, thanks. where are you seeing the prices you cite for the Tignanello? I don’t see anything close to that at US retail.

Oops. Those were half bottles. Never mind!

[John_Morris]

Owen, I live in Ontario and generally agree. We often pay more for for just about everything, but many Italian producers are cheaper here. I don’t know why but suspect it has to do with mark-ups. Perhaps distributors and retailers have higher margins on Italian wine in the US, whereas here in Ontario everything is on a fixed mark-up model.

…

I rarely buy Italian wine in the US. Especially not anything on release. Your example of Il Poggione is a good one. I’ve been buying the Normale at retail here since the 2006 vintage and have been paying $59 - $75 CAD (taxes and shipping included), which seems to be consistently cheaper than in the US. Using wine-searcher I’m also not seeing the prices John indicates on Tignanello.

I have occasionally found good deals on Italian wines in Vancouver, both in the provincial stores and in private shops. But it’s very occasional. A few times I’ve also found things that weren’t available in the US (e.g., a 2012 Burlotto Barolo Monvigliero two years ago after Monvigliero became a must-have wine here in the States.)

I suspect you’re right that these bargains are explained by the fixed markups that the provincial liquor boards take. Importers and distributors in the US may cash in on demand for particular products. I could see that with Tignanello, which Antinori successfully made into a branded luxury good.

[Jon_Chan]

In my short buying experience:

Wine at auction - ridiculous
French wine purchased in the Quebec monopoly - wonderful, especially on the higher end goods.
French wine purchased in the Ontario monopoly - wonderful, especially on the higher end goods.
Wine purchased in the Ontario monopoly - lovely, if you love obscene mark ups on every single region in the world.
Wine purchased in the BC monopoly - lovely, if you love to be gouged.

[Ramon_C]

The fixed mark-up on Italian bargains may explain the lower prices in Ontario.

But how much of these bottles are available? I don’t see them on the shelves and when I ask, the guy/gal would say they sold out the day they came out.

[John_Morris]

French wine purchased in the Ontario monopoly - wonderful, especially on the higher end goods.
Wine purchased in the Ontario monopoly - lovely, if you love obscene mark ups on every single region in the world.

[Jim_Stewart]

I thought the wine prices in BC are very high for imported wines. I get most of them much cheaper in the US.

My (limited) experience in BC resort areas was the same. I was shocked at the prices that locals were paying.

One time we were up there and my dad got pulled over by a Mounty. He had confused the 100KMH speed limit with a 100MPH limit. He was given a Scolding of Severe Censure. That was probably the fastest that station wagon had ever been driven in its life!

Late to this thread, but I saw the reaction about “what’s the connection?” between your comment and the thread. The connection is obvious, linear, and direct to me, Arv, and it is the type of thread enrichment that I enjoy reading. Cheers.

[John_Morris]

Late to this thread, but I saw the reaction about “what’s the connection?” between your comment and the thread. The connection is obvious, linear, and direct to me, Arv, and it is the type of thread enrichment that I enjoy reading. Cheers.

+1

It reminded me of a friend’s father, who was the CEO of McMillan Bloedel, then Canada’s biggest lumber and pulp company, based in Vancouver. During the oil crisis in the early 70s, he drove down to Seattle for a meeting. But he forgot that the US had gone on daylight savings time in the winter to save energy and so he arrived an hour late.

On the way home, he forgot that the US had imposed the 55 mph speed limit and was pulled over.

We now return to our regularly scheduled bantering…

[Jonathan_H]

The fixed mark-up on Italian bargains may explain the lower prices in Ontario.

But how much of these bottles are available? I don’t see them on the shelves and when I ask, the guy/gal would say they sold out the day they came out.

That can be a major problem. You really do need to have a good relationship with a retail store that has a good relationship with the importer. Really depends on the wine though. For something like Tignanello or Il Poggione, availability is rarely a problem.

[Tom_G_l_a_s_g_o_w]

Not really an on topic question. We’re driving to the Finger Lakes and then to Toronto. Canada has a two bottle limit on entry. How much are duties if I elect to pay? any other solutions? I suppose I could find temporary storage in Buffalo.

[J_D_Antonio]

Canada has a two bottle exemption per person for wine, not limit. Technically, CBSA can charge duty on any over two bottles. The personal limit in Ontario is 45L, although since you’re not a resident, I doubt they would believe you if you said a U-Haul full of wine wasn’t for commercial purposes.

Generally speaking, I find CBSA pretty reasonable with visitors and they will likely waive you through if you say you have 3, 4, even 6 bottles each, if you’re staying for the week. It’s possible, however, they will pull you over and make you pay duty. In that case, I calculate 62% of declared value in CAD.

[Scott_W1]

Yeah 2 bottles stated above but I did a trip to Scotland last year and brought back 20 bottles of Scotch carefully placed in my wife and I’s luggage (was heavy!). Declared it, talked to an agent and was thanked for my honesty.

Border guards are pretty reasonable and its often a huge hassle for them to calculate duties so they seem to avoid it.

[Tom_G_l_a_s_g_o_w]

Thanks, I was thinking of buying some wine in FL. At 62%, I’ll keep it to two bottles each.

[RichardFlack]

Regarding “declared value” they are liable to check. Best to have receipts.

And agree small quantities in personal baggage can get waived through.

[David_Cooper]

Here in BC wine is much more expensive than in the US. Occasionally some higher end stuff takes so long to get to the shelves due to the BCLDB’s incompetence it may be a deal.

An example is Fontodi Flaccianello and CCR del Sorbo. The 2015 and 2016’s were lost in the process for a couple of years and when they were found they were immediately discounted. One of the bean counters saw them sitting in inventory and decided they were dogs. Of course they were never put on the shelves, or listed which made them rather hard to sell.

Also, BC is one of the biggest purchasers of Bordeaux so our government buys at a pretty good level, then sits on the inventory for a couple of years. We just had the 19s “released”. The prices were stupid though, I think.

Also our dollar is very weak right now, so it seems worse than it really is. I bought 2020 Castellare di Castellina CCR for $22 US at Total Wine and declared it at the border where I paid and additional $19 Cdn. It still was a dollar or two less than it is at a local private shop.

I would imagine the post above that said wine is cheaper in Canada is from an Albertan. They do pay a fair bit less in Provincial mark ups. Canada is a huge place with varying price structures for wine.