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Inmporting wine to Alberta

C calgarydetailMember
I thought I would share my experience importing wine into Alberta, it was very simple and everything went without a hitch.
I ordered a bottle of wine from vinflio prob. 2 weeks or so ago. I ordered from them knowing they ship the wine as wine and everything would be done in a legal fashion.

I ordered the wine and was notified that it had been shipped, a few days later I received a call from a person at the Alberta gaming and liquor agency. I was told they had my wine, wanted to double check I was expecting it and to get an e-mail to send me an invoice. A few hours later I received and e-mail with the invoice and I could pay it. They needed a money order, certified cheque, or cash. I sent a money order.

After the money was received the wine was delivered as normal. The wine was stored at the mail warehouse (I called to make sure it was heated, it was).
The wine was 125 cdn, I paid 9.55cdn duty, it was very simple and quick. I had no complaints and would do it again.
Everything went off without a hitch

I thought i would share my story in hopes that our friends to the south will start shipping to us here in Alberta
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C calgarydetailMember
quote:
Originally posted by Stefania Wine:
Do you know what they needed on their end to ship? I looked into this last year and it was going to be about $140 to send a 3 pack if I remember right.

I'm not 100% sure what is needed, I know the customs from said it was wine. As for the cost of shipping,again I cant comment. I guess it depends on who and how the wine is shipped. I have paid as little as 10 bucks bottle and as much as 80.(maybe more i cant remember exactly)

All I can say for sure is that shipping wine to Alberta (not all of Canada, just Alberta) is a simple processes as far is our end is concerned.
S slipperypeteMember
quote:
Originally posted by calgarydetail:
quote:
Originally posted by Cellar_Fiend:
Yes! Randy and Paul please let me know that you guys are good to go on this. Thanks Calgary, as-well this LINK was posted from a previous thread.


if you import something let me know, i would love to see if its as smooth for you as it was for me


Curse you guys and your simple import. I pray that Alberta get to host an Olympic too. Razz
chardchardMember
quote:
Originally posted by Gundam:
quote:
Originally posted by calgarydetail:
quote:
Originally posted by Cellar_Fiend:
Yes! Randy and Paul please let me know that you guys are good to go on this. Thanks Calgary, as-well this LINK was posted from a previous thread.




if you import something let me know, i would love to see if its as smooth for you as it was for me


Curse you guys and your simple import. I pray that Alberta get to host an Olympic too. Razz


1988
steve8steve8Member
For a laugh, I tried that calculator on the Fed-Ex page CF linked. Plugged in a 6 pack of $50/bottle wine. Outrageous what it costs to have it shipped to BC and Ontario. Not even close to being worth it. Alberta definitely wins on this.

Take a look at the US-Ontario Licensee Process too. No way is any winery going to go through all of that. Which is no doubt exactly what the LCBO wants.
C calgarydetailMember
quote:
Originally posted by Estimator:
quote:
Originally posted by Gundam:
quote:
Originally posted by calgarydetail:
quote:
Originally posted by Cellar_Fiend:
Yes! Randy and Paul please let me know that you guys are good to go on this. Thanks Calgary, as-well this LINK was posted from a previous thread.




if you import something let me know, i would love to see if its as smooth for you as it was for me


Curse you guys and your simple import. I pray that Alberta get to host an Olympic too. Razz


1988


yeah but that was a long time ago, i was only 1. Big Grin
O ogopogodudeMember
Hey , fellow canucks ... is there a way of checking out the inventory online of that liquor store in Calgary called Willow Park liquor store?
Here in BC we can log onto the Provincieal (BC) liquor store website and find out instantaneously what is in stock and exactly where (city-wise & actually, specifically, store-wise). It is pretty cool. Can any Albertans provide a link to my inquiry? Thanks...(sorry i got off topic about importing into alberta but i go to calgary about two/tree times a year and i make it a point to go that liquor store as it is like lego-land to me)
C calgarydetailMember
quote:
Originally posted by Ogopogo DUDE:
Hey , fellow canucks ... is there a way of checking out the inventory online of that liquor store in Calgary called Willow Park liquor store?
Here in BC we can log onto the Provincieal (BC) liquor store website and find out instantaneously what is in stock and exactly where (city-wise & actually, specifically, store-wise). It is pretty cool. Can any Albertans provide a link to my inquiry? Thanks...(sorry i got off topic about importing into alberta but i go to calgary about two/tree times a year and i make it a point to go that liquor store as it is like lego-land to me)


http://www.alberta-liquor-guide.com/

if you put in what you want it will tell you the stores that have it

if you need something frm wp let me know, its less then 5min from my house. I spend lots of time there
C calgarydetailMember
quote:
Originally posted by Ogopogo DUDE:
That is great, ... thanks. There is one thing though: why isn't there any pricing beside the product once u located it? This pricing thing is on our BC website. Oh well... (unless i wasn't navigating everywhere)


because every store is free to set its own prices and change them as they see fit. the goverment does not decided what things should cost, the market does
S stefaniawineMember
CF - we don't know. That's the answer.

The rules for retailers and wineries are different. We have different licenses and permits. There is nothing on the Family Winemakers site or Free the Grapes about what we would need to do to export.

It's never as simple as you've made it out to be, there are licenses that would need to be obtained for sure.

When I looked into it last year it was using a 3rd party shipping company. They in effect act as a broker. I transfer the wine to them, they transfer it to a retailer who has an export permit / license, the retailer then transfers it to a licensed agent in Alberta, who delivers the wine to you.

The actual wine never leaves the UPS truck, but legally, that's everything that goes on behind the scenes. That's why it was $140 to send three bottles, everyone was taking a cut. When Bond said they could get wine to you, I'm sure they were using the same service. It was offered from New Vine Logistics.

What I did find:

http://aglc.ca/liquor/faq.asp#Importer

http://www.calwinexport.com/fi...e%20March%202009.pdf

made it seem that we would either need to get an Alberta liquor license ourselves or partner with a distributor in Alberta who already has a license. It looks like the minimum cost is $200, and I'm think it's probably upwards of $1000 to get all the licensing in order.

For a winery I would think you'd need at least $10,000 in direct business to make the effort worthwhile. For me that would mean I need 40-50 people in Alberta who ordered regularly from me. Right now I have 60-70 in California who order regularly and New York is the next closest with about 30.
C cellarfiendMember
Paul, thanks for all of the research. I appreciate that you would not be willing to obtain a license for a couple of guys in Alberta. I just really get tired of seeing rave reviews of your wine from fellow forumites with no chance of obtaining some for myself. I plan to make it down to California one of these days and you and Randy are at the top of my visit list. Hopefully someday this shipping issue will be resolved. Thanks again.
C cellarfiendMember
Great success. I ordered a bottle of 1961 Chasse Spleen a 3L bottle of 2005 Leoville Poyferre a bottle of 1987 Montelena Cab and 6 bottles 2007 Anderson`s Conn Valley Proprietary Red Right Bank. I ordered these from Vinfolio and BP wines. The 9 bottles will cost me $94.99 in duty and tax before they will be released and shipped to my home. I simply pay the AGLC via certified cheque, bank draft or money order, and they will notify the shipping coy to release/ship them. In the future, if you e-mail the AGLC a copy of the reciept before they are shipped, there will be no delay with the wine about to be delivered, providing you pay them before it is held. Here is a copy of the XLS of duties and taxes for my recent orders.

DATE 26-Feb-10
CUSTOMER NAME: Cellar Fiend
IMPORTED FROM: UNITED STATES
ADDRESS: xxxxxxx
TO: ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE
CANADIAN VALUE $1,124.94
NBR BTLS 9
NBR LTR RATE TOTAL
MARK UP SPIRITS <22% $9.90 $0.00
SPIRITS > 22.1% $13.30 $0.00
WINE <16% 9 $3.45 $31.05
WINE > 16.1% $6.10 $0.00
COOLERS $1.35 $0.00
BEER $0.98 $0.00
NBR BTLS RATE TOTAL
WINE CELLAR SPIRITS .750 ML $2.50 $0.00
SPIRITS 1.000 $3.00 $0.00
STILL WINE .750 $1.25 $0.00
STILL WINE 1.000 $1.50 $0.00
DESERT WINE $2.50 $0.00
SPARKLING WINE $2.50 $0.00
BEER $0.15 $0.00
MINIATURES $0.25 $0.00

TOTAL PROVINCAL MARK UP $31.05
FREIGHT CHARGES $0.00
CUSTOMS AND EXCISE DUTY $5.85
GST $58.09

TOTAL OWING $94.99

ACCOUNT
$5.85
$31.05
$58.09
$0.00
TOTAL $94.99
C calgarydetailMember
quote:
Originally posted by Cellar_Fiend:
Calgary, the only reason I tried to order from Vinfolio in the first place is because of this thread. Let me know when your in Edmonton, and we will open something good!!


haha, if it goes wrong you can blame me but it sounds like its working out.

And thanks for the offer, i will have to take you up on it. If you are ever in cowtown let me know and we will have to get togther and share a bottle or two
M machineMember
quote:
Originally posted by Cellar_Fiend:
It never gets held at customs, it arrives at the shippers warehouse and sits until it is cleared(once you send the AGLC their money).


To your knowledge is it possible to get a quote on what the total taxes/duty/etc. for a particular list of wines? I have 6 cases or so stored in NYC, with 2 or 3 more cases coming. Would be great to ship to Alberta (which would itself be an issue because my storage place tells me they cant ship outside of NY state) and when we go out to visit relatives in the wild west we could just take the opportunity to rent a car and drive back with the lot of it.
C calgarydetailMember
quote:
Originally posted by Machine:
quote:
Originally posted by Cellar_Fiend:
It never gets held at customs, it arrives at the shippers warehouse and sits until it is cleared(once you send the AGLC their money).


To your knowledge is it possible to get a quote on what the total taxes/duty/etc. for a particular list of wines? I have 6 cases or so stored in NYC, with 2 or 3 more cases coming. Would be great to ship to Alberta (which would itself be an issue because my storage place tells me they cant ship outside of NY state) and when we go out to visit relatives in the wild west we could just take the opportunity to rent a car and drive back with the lot of it.


as far as i know you can send them the list with the price adn they should be able to give you a quote.

it should be 3 bucks a bottle plus 5% gst plus i think 65 cents a L or something like that. Its not hard to work out yourself. Just make sure you gave all the invoices in the shipment so they can figure out what you owe
M machineMember
quote:
Originally posted by Cellar_Fiend:
quote:
Originally posted by Cellar_Fiend:
Just fire an e-mail to the AGLC, and pay them for the duty/taxes. CalgaryDetail is correct with his calculations. Send the wine to your relatives after that.


And if storage/handling is a concern, send it to me and I'll hold until you get out here.


Thanks for the info. CF there are a few things that might be too tempting for you to leave in your possession!

I have family in Virden and Cromer Manitoba, and Drayton Valley Alberta, might be going out this summer, so will put everything together and see what could be worked out.

If I brought what I could of those 6-8 cases (which would be 4 duty free and a maximum of 60 extra bottles on which duty would be paid) through Toronto customs, I think the duty on those 60 extra bottles would be substantial. It appears that cost of my 60 most expensive bottles in storage is in the range of USD$9,000, market value using current US prices is probably USD$11,500 or so, and market value if customs decided to use ridiculous LCBO prices would be in the range of CAD$18-20,000 or more I think (for example, 5 bottles of 2004 latour purchased for USD$199 now selling for CAD$899 per bottle at LCBO, 3 bottles of 2005 Pavie Mac cost of USD$72 selling at LCBO for CAD$349 not far behind, etc....you get the idea). From what I have read, duty plus other applicable charges if I accompanied the wine across the border into Ontario would be 68.8% of the accepted 'market value' (NOT cost, but I assume thats what they tend to go by...i hope); if it was shipped unaccompanied, total charges would be 131% of the market value. Those fees (which I would never consider paying), even using the USD$9,000 market value would probably pay for 6 or 7 of our typical last-minute-deal-round-trip-flight-and-2-nights-at-a-hotel-in-NYC deals (for the flight and hotel only)....which would wipe out about 50-60 bottles right there (8 or 9 out of storage each time, 4 for duty free, 2 for BYOB restaurants plus 1 backup in case of a cooked/corked bottle, and 1 cheaper bottle to drink in the room, and maybe a bottle of bubbly if circumstances dictate...and for the last few trips that one extra bottle has come back with us, and they have grudgingly let us through with 5 bottles, with some questioning of why we have 5 bottles). However, if I could save a bunch of cash by shipping to Alta from NYC then I might consider doing it, might be nice to take a long relaxing drive across the prarie back into ontario.
C calgarydetailMember
I figured i would throw this over here too (cellar fiends idea, i cannot take credit)


I have solved the problem of getting mailing lists shipped to Canada. It is not the cheapest but it should, in theory, work without a glitch.
It does rely 100% on vinfolio so fingers crossed they don't go under.

So to store wine a vinfolio is $2.80us a case per month. You do need to pre pay for 15 case/month units ($42 us to start)
You have your mailing list wine shipped to vinfolio. The price will depend on the winery. I am not sure of any intake fees. You can also have vinfolio pick up the wine in napa for 10 bucks USD.
Once they have the wine they do require a 6 month storage or a fee of $1.25 a bottle for early removal

This means:
A case stored for 6 months is $16.80
A 12 bottle case removed early $15

Not much of a difference but the call is yours of course.

Once the 6 months or the fee has been paid the wine can be shipped at shipping cost. I am not sure what this is as to many variable are in pay.

So to start is 42 bucks
A case shipped with the one month storage fee is $17.80plus pick up or shipping to vinfolio.

It should work, they ship well to Alberta, its all done legally and cleanly.

I am hoping to try it with a bottle or two from vineyard 29. Time will tell, update to come later
S sthomasMember
Resurrecting this thread... I just successfully imported a case + of wine into Alberta from the winery. The process was almost exactly as described above, except that I used All Ways Cool to manage things on the Cali end... cost for 12 bottles + 1 magnum was $160 in shipping/handling/etc... from AWC.

The only problem was that the AGLC had an issue with my name/address (in Ontario) in the paperwork, so even though I was splitting the wine with my brother in law in Alberta the AGLC was concerned and made a big deal about it being illegal to ship within Canada, etc... (which we're not going to do anyway) But at the end of the day they did release the shipment at the $3/bottle + GST duty/tax rate listed above.
S stefaniawineMember
I'm sure I'd have to charge CA Sales Tax to deliver to Vinfolio,JJ Buckley or any other warehouse in CA. 9.25% for me. It varies by county in California, Napa is 1% cheaper I think, so add that into your calculations for total cost.

Shipping wine around inside California though is pretty cheap for most wineries, especially if it's cases moving and it's staying in the Bay Area. My cost to ship a case to Vinfolio via CWT is $8 I think and GSO is about $11 so you shouldn't be paying more than $20-$30 to move the wine from a winery to storage.
C calgarydetailMember
quote:
Originally posted by Cellar_Fiend:
Just picked up another shipment from BP Wines without issue and I am about to recieve more from Vinfolio. I can finally order wine from all of the mailing lists I am on without issue! Stefania i'll be shooting you an e-mail shortly.


I have also just received a case I had shipped up from Vinfolio. I had 2 cases of wine shipped to vinfolio off mailing lists with no problems.
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