This is one of my first posts in this forum and I hope I've posed this question in the right sub-forum.

Mr frogoutofwater and I will be moving from Paris to New York City this summer. During our two-year stay here, we have built up a small wine collection (not large - probably 4 dozen bottles at most, and generally in the 8-35 euro range). It's (obviously) not an extensive or a valuable collection; we always kept in mind that we'd be moving soon and that we'd probably have to pay duty - so mostly we've drunk what we've bought, and have bought with a view to drinking now rather than laying down wine for later.

We are wondering, though, whether it would be worthwhile to buy more wine to take with us when we move to NYC. There is a Salon des Vignerons Independants coming up this month in Paris, which would present a good opportunity to stock up. We're also going to a Bordeaux 2004 tasting at Lavinia for club members later this month, and that would be a good opportunity to invest in some better quality wines. (We visited Bordeaux last summer and some of the houses we visited will be at this event.) And we've become very fond of champagne, especially since champagne from the small, independent houses is quite affordable and quite interesting.

But, of course, there's the question of duty, excise taxes, state taxes, importation hassles etc. I've been trying to do some research on the internet - but haven't even been able to find some general data on roughly what the per bottle costs would be. (Moving costs are paid for by my former employer, but not duties or taxes.) It's hard to know whether it's worth stocking up (e.g. doubling or tripling the size of our collection) or whether we should be drinking up.

For example, on an 11 euro bottle of champagne (Harlin Pere & Fils, quite nice), will duty and taxes add a few euros, double the price or triple the price? Are the duty and taxes a per bottle (or volume) charge, so that it would make more sense to invest in: a) more expensive wines (e.g. from our Bordeaux tasting) and b) drink up all our demi-bottles of champagne (which are a nice way to end the week)? Could anyone point me in the direction of a specialist company that could help us arrange to move the wine and tell us approximately how much it would cost?

Thanks very much for any advice you can provide.

welcome to the WS Boards and welcome back to the US.
1) Probably this is the right place to post, but you might try "wine conversations" instead.
2) On the economics, I would guess that if you pay 35 Euros for a bottle of wine (at present it takes $1.31 or so to buy a Euro) you are talking about a wine that costs $46 or $47 dollars in US. That's a nice wine, probably. And, I would guess that you can't necessarily get these wines in the US.
I have no idea how to ship them, what the fees are, etc. But, I'd probably do it if I liked the wine.
What specific wines are you talking about? I bet their worthwhile to bring back.
(Maybe not the 8 Euro -15 Euro wines. But, maybe).

I hate to promote lawlessness, but I say just pack it up and ship it as household goods. I mean, we're talking about four cases of wine, right?

But if you're considering stocking up before moving, maybe you should check with the consulate. Surely they can answer your questions. Its not like people haven't shipped wine from France before.

Welcome to the Boards, by the way. Tell us more about those tiny production frenchies that you like (and ignore my signature).

If you are moving in the summer, then transporting your wine as cargo might not be the best idea. It will be hot outside and hotter in the container.

I am in the same situation, and looking for a wine mover.

Save yourself the hassle and throw a party. Drink all but the special bottles.