Leaving for France next Wednesday (10/3/07) and have a quick question re wineries
 

Good morning, all!

My husband and I have less than week until our departure, and we are so excited! I have all of my travel plans pretty well pinned down, but I do have a quick question. Our travels in France will take us to Paris, Chamonix and St. Remy. We are very interested in visiting small, local, family-owned wineries. We will, of course, be buying some wine to take back. Do any of you have any recommendations in any of these areas that you can share with me?

Thank you, as always, for your assistance.

Donna

<i>We will, of course, be buying some wine to take back.</i>

You are aware, of course, that you cannot take any bottles as carry-on when you return.

Michael,

Unless the rules have changed, I believe each person can bring back a limited amount of wine (2 liters, I believe) as long as they declare it. I plan to recheck the rules before I leave. I posted my question to get some recommendations from others.

Unless you buy 3 oz bottles of wine, you can't take them on the plane as carry ons - just like Michael said. I had a wine bottle break in my check-in once.

We spend 2 months in France most years, and I stopped bring wine back about 10 years ago. We can generally get the same wine in the US, and often at about the same price.

Stu Dudley

Thank you for the advice regarding customs regulations for bringing in wine. It definitely is something I have been thinking about and I appreciate the concern. However, I would still love some recommendations for some small wineries to visit in the areas of Paris, Chamonix and St. Remy.

The don't make wine in Paris (with 1 unusual exception), nor in Chamonix, to my knowledge.

Lots of possibilities near St Remy - and expecially in the Cote du Rhone region. We've never found the smaller wineries to be very accommodating - not like in the winegrowing regions of Northern Calif. Beaucastel in Chateauneuf du Pape has an excellent tour (reserve ahead), but it's not a small family owned winery (and you can buy all their wines in the US). Gigondas has lots of wineries that seem to be open for tasting (we've only tasted at the co-op there, which offers most of the area's wines for tasting).

Stu Dudley

Sure, they make wine in Paris -- at least if you are talking about the general Ile de France area. I don't think it is considered among the best in France, of course, but there are vineyards.

Here is the website of the Ile de France Vignerons
http://www.vigneronsfranciliens.com

If you go to the tourism button on there, it lists addresses

If you can get down to the Loire Valley just below Paris, you should go to Vouvray for some terrific chenin blanc, and Chateau Goudichaud for a lovely rose. However, the absolute best of the best for wine production is in Burgundy (pinot noir and chardonnay), especially in the Gevrey-Chambertin, Puligny and Chassagne-Montrachets, Morey-St-Denis -- these will have some wines for which you would pay $100 retail in the States and, no, unfortunately, you cannot get all these wines here!!
We are going to these areas in mid October and will be bringing wine back in a shipping container, which you can ask for at any winery and check at the airport like luggage. They should survive just fine, from what other winos have told me.

Bon chance!

Oh yeah, and if you go to the Loire, they are famous for Sauv Blanc - Sancerre and Pouilly Fume.

I may be wrong, but I don't think any of those places in Paris are wineries with winemaking facilities and vineyards. Perhaps some of the addresses outside of Paris are - but I've been to most of the parks in Paris that are on some of the descriptions, &amp; I've never seen vineyards - but I admit that I've never looked for them or seeked them out. Has anyone visited any of these places ??? Only 1 is open for visitors in Paris proper.

I have seen the vineyard on Montmartre.

Stu Dudley

Near St. Remy is Chateauneuf du Pape, as Stu mentioned.
How do you intend to get this wine back? We brought back a modicum (4 CNDP) and it was a heavy PITA. Drink it there. Buy it here.
You cannot carry it on, unless you buy it at CDG at the duty free. Then, if you have a connecting US flight, you cannot carry it on there. Just a thought process.
Why so short with Michael, who gave you good advice (mine is a repeat).

We returned from France with 8 bottles of wine in our checked luggage (2 suitcases) on our last trip - went to Loire and Burgundy. Not a problem. Pack bubble wrap flat in your suitcase to use as padding and also use dirty clothes as padding. Yes, you do risk breakage but we've done this numerous times before.

There is a separate thread somewhere on this board on bringing back wines. As I recall, the duty is so small that Customs doesn't even bother to collect.

If you are a wine lover there is a great pleasure in drinking wines that remind you of your trip. And we buy what we cannot get in the US because it is not exported.

Enjoy!

I just got back from Greece and my husband and I brought 13 bottles of wine home and not one broke so it is possible.
Last summer in France we stayed near Saint Remy and we visited Mas Sainte Berthe which had some wines we really liked as well as Mas De La Dame which was okay in our opinion. One place I would highy recommend is the olive farm called Calanquet just outside Saint Remy.

We love the wine shop owned by Juan Sanchez - La Derni&egrave;re Goutte [[email protected]]in Paris. He has an excellent selection of wines which he travels throughout France to &quot;discover&quot;. He'll happily spend some time with you, picking out wines and will pack them in a box that you can safely check with your luggage at the airport. We choose wines this past February from areas which we were traveling to later this year in France. We enjoyed our bottles before our trips to each area we had selected. He also works closely with Patricia Wells. She happened to stop into his shop while we were there so we were able to meet her.

dlb716, it isn't the customs regulations that people are referring to. It's the prohibition on bringing liquids through security in the airports. So, as others have said, you can put the wine in your checked luggage; you just can't carry it on the plane.

Thank all of you for your suggestions. I knew that I would not be able to bring any wine in my carry-on luggage; it was not my intent to sound curt. I apologize if I came across that way. Erinmc17 and Trish, thank you for sharing your winery finds. What fun!

I will second Tish's recommendation for Mas De La Dame. It's near Le Beaux (which you should definitely visit), and we really love their wine. Should be near harvest time, so you've picked a great time to visit! (but, while in St. Remy, make sure and get some chocolate at Joel Durand's - http://www.chocolat-durand.com/menu.htm )

We just returned from Bordeaux, and it's true that you canNOT take wine on board flights with carry on. I'd follow Stu's recommendation and not even buy any bottles, unless you have room in your checked luggage. Sad, but true, in this day and age. Alternatively, have the winery ship some wine home for you (if your state allows it)...that will negate any savings, but you'll get to enjoy at home a wine you enjoyed in France.

jkirkmd,

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I will be able to bring some home in a checked bag. I am bringing clothing in only one checked bag and will have an empty checked bag for wine. I hope it works out because I would really love to be able to bring some home.

Again, I am very grateful everyone who posted for all of their advice and suggestions. I do apologize if my tone sounded less than gracious because it was not intentional,

Thank you again!

You should be able to purchase a box with styrofoam liners that hold 6-12 bottles for your wine. You may need to carry shipping tape and retape after checking it as luggage. Make sure you aren't over any luggage weight limits.

From our experience in bringing back wine from Mas De La Dame, make sure you wrap each bottle, and make sure no bare bottles touch each other. We packed a 3-pack from Mas De La Dame, figuring the cardboard box was sufficient packaging, but didn't realize the bottles were on their own inside the cardboard. Fortunately, only one bottle broke, and also fortunately, we wrapped that cardboard 3-pack in several plastic bags. A bit of a mess, but not many other items were damaged inside the suitcase!