Wine on flights to/from
 

Hi all, we'll be travelling around France next May going into Bruges and flying to Copenhagen from Brussels. Do they have duty-free at the airport where you can buy wine to take on-board or because it's part of the European Union would you have to pack it in your checked luggage or if you can't take it on board, can you buy decent wines in Copenhagen?
Thanks,
Som

You can buy decent wines in Copenhagen but at about thrice or more IME the cost of a similar French wine in France. EU and Schengen countries are different - Britain is part of the EU but does not join in the Customs Union and thus has duty-free i believe when coming or going to EU countries. Not sure about Denmark but think they are in the EU Customs cartel.

There is no duty free if you fly from one EU country to another.

You cannot take liquids on board, unless you bought them at the airport and they are sealed there. If you buy wine elsewhere, you would have to put in in your checked luggage, which i would not advise!
Doesn't have anything to do with being part of the EU.

Okay, a bit of clarification:

- Duty Free means that you are exempt from paying import duties on your purchases for export. This doesn't apply when traveling within the EU, as all EU countries are in a single customs union (including Britain, PalenQ). Accordingly, any products produced and sold within the EU (including that French wine you buy in Copenhagen) aren't subject to import duties in the first place. Sales taxes (VAT) may differ between countries, but it is roughly analogous to going from New York to Boston.

- Most EU airports still do a brisk trade selling "Tax Free" items, whereby the pricing is intended to make up for some of the VAT hit.

- All purchases of both types from EU airports can be carried on to the plane for flights within the EU. Anything bought outside the airport will need to be checked.

All that being said, the issue is selection. I would not consider the wine selection at most EU airports (including Brussels) to be worth your time. They usually have an okay Champagne selection, but not much in the way of still wines. Most, if not all, of the labels will be mass-market wines.

As to buying decent wine in Copenhagen... It is certainly possible. Without knowing what your price range and tastes are, I would suggest the following shops:

http://www.theis-vine.dk/butikker/ - Really nice staff. They often have maybe a dozen bottles available for tasting. A good mid-range selection of mostly European wines.

http://www.eriksorensenvin.dk/english/ - Again, a very good staff. More of an old-school wine nerd type of place than Theis. Personally, I prefer Theis, but this is still a very good shop.

http://www.osterreich.dk/ - Exclusively Austrian wines. Only a small handful of producers, but a well-chosen selection. If you don't like Grüner like I do, then it might not be worth your while.

http://www.superbest.dk/find-butik - The best of the supermarket wine selections, IMO. Not at par with the better wine shops, but a decent enough selection and a lot of variety among table wines.

There are any number of other liquor stores scattered around town that will all carry wine. If you are just looking for something decent, then I would say that you could find something at just about any of them, or even at some of the grocery stores (Irma, SuperBest, SuperBrugsen, and Fotex but probably not Netto or Fakta).

So, I would look around if I had time in Brussels, but wouldn't buy just to buy. You can find something in Copenhagen.

I should add that I don't find the pricing in Denmark to be bad at all. You won't find the range of plonk that you see at ultra-low prices in France, Spain, or Italy, but you asked about 'decent' wine, and I don't think that the cheapo stuff in those countries rises to the level of palatable, much less decent. For the mid-range wines, the pricing is probably a bit higher, but certainly not double or triple, like PalenQ says.

We were in Reyjavik, Iceland, last May traveling to Boston. At the airport you could purchase wine/liquors and take them on board, including small bottles of wine that you could enjoy on the flight. They also had alcohol nips of all kinds that again you take on board and mix them with soda/tonic to make your drinks during the flight.

Mike

Legally, take on board and drink? You'll get thrown off a US flight for that.

tgourmet - yes i was talking about the cheaper wines like i buy at Carrefour in France - for 3 euros i get a really decent Bordeaux, burgundy, Cotes du Rhone, etc. and in Denmark i pay a lot more for those

and though those are decent wines to me - wines that would cost thrice that in the U.S. i agree that decent to some folks may mean wines that cost much more and i have no idea of what they cost cause i never drink them.

I'm pretty sure you can buy decent wines in Copenhagen. Is there something special you're looking for.