Just returned from the Mosel Region

[toddabod]

My wife and I just returned from the Mosel Region in Germany. We stayed in Cochem and had a delightful time. I bought 8 bottles of wine to put in my collection. I bought two bottles of Bernkastler Doctor Spaetlase's. What an impressive wine. I have a question, why is wine so damn expensive in the United States. I bought bottles ranging from 3 - 9 dollars and there are all very good. I think there is a conspiracy to soak everyone in the states who enjoys wine. Just my two cents.

[Thomas]

By the time wine gets from there to here, your two cents has gone up considerably. First, one must pay the European broker who arranges label approvals in the U.S. and shipment to the docks for export; then, one must pay the shipping freight; then, one must pay the licensed importer who brings the wine into the U.S.; then, one must pay the customs duties; then, one must pay the excise taxes; then, one must pay the state-government mandated U.S. warehousing from customs; then, one must pay the state-mandated distributor; then, one must pay the trucking company to get the wine to your favorite retailer or restaurant; then, one must pay the retailer or restaurant for their services; and then, there is the sales tax.


[This message has been edited by foodie (edited 07-08-2002).]

[wondersofwine]

That's why I could afford to buy Eisweins in Germany and can rarely afford them in U.S.
Still, most German wines through the auslese level are a bargain compared to prices for noted California and Oregon wines.

[hotwine]

I agree, Wow. There's a lot of excellent German wines out there, and many at bargain prices.

Todd, to illustrate Foodie's description of the cost factors involved in the business of importing wines, consider this: back in the mid-'80's, I had the bright idea of setting up a wine import business. I located a broker living in Germany who would supply me with German, French, Italian and Spanish wines of my choosing with monthly shipments. So I then contacted my friendly Texas Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission, and asked them to "send me an application to import wine." Har, har, har! They sent me a two-inch thick packet of forms, rules and regulations. In studying that packet, I learned that no fewer than 10 licenses were required, including an import license, a warehousing license, a trucking license, a truck driver's license specifically to haul alcohol (and nothing else), a customs bond on the goods, a customs bond on my warehouse, a customs bond on the truck, a bonded certification that I would not trade with any family member in a "retail alcohol" business, etc....and those were all annually renewable, at fees in the thousands of dollars each. And that was just at the state level. I filed that one away under "dumb ideas".

Why do we have such a draconian system of providing wines to the consuming public? Think "taxing opportunities". Every person, vehicle, building, transaction in the wine trade represents a golden taxing opportunity for all levels of government. Federal, state and local governments are thoroughly addicted to the fountain of plentiful revenue that's generated. They can't do without it. And that's why we're stuck with it.

[This message has been edited by hotwine (edited 07-09-2002).]

[Thomas]

...and so there is a conspiracy, but it is the government that perpetrates it, not the wine trade...

In the real old days, before government discovered the benefits of taxing wine, one could buy wine direct from a producer anywhere in the world, and have it shipped direct to one's home, without having to apply for a license. What we need is what the politicians keep saying they deliver--less government; what we get, of course, is more bull....not to mention taxes.