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Can anyone recommend a spot to buy wine near Geneva?
Heading to the Alps skiing and have room for about 12 bottles to bring back. Somewhere near Cluses would be ideal!
I seem to remember there are vineyards on the slopes above montreux - you can get the boat there, and train back to Geneva. Great excursion.
Are you looking for Swiss wine or international wine? Just outside Geneva and Lausanne there are good vineyards that sell from the cellar door. In Geneva you get to some by bus in 20m.
Sadly… all massively less glamourous.
Landing into Geneva for a ski week with 5, 7 and 10 year old children in toe over new year. Looking to stuff a case with either cheap/unusual wine before heading back to the states. (with 5 bag allowance).
I believe the family will collectively give me about 8 minutes to execute this strategy. Ideally with a pull up, buy, drive off leaving them in the car approach.
Relaxing tastings… this will not be!
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There is a well stocked Nicolas wine shop at the airport on the way from the train station to check-in. Prices are reasonable and they do have all the rare Swiss grape varieties: Gamaret, Humagne, Chasselas, etc. I’d say you can get decent wines from about 20 Swiss francs. Have a look for pics online as it’s a nice looking shop.
Denner stores have a fairly good reputation for decent wines at good prices , though not sure how much unusual stuff they have in their range these days. Those would be on the Swiss side, though I think there are a few branches not far from the airport. On the French side I guess it would be the usual suspects, many Geneva residents do their food shopping there, so Geneva is surrounded by French super/hypermarchés. Sorry that I don’t have any specific recommendations, been several years since I visited one of those.
Is it still worth it price-wise to pay the duty and tax on arrival in the US? Their duty free import limits are tiny when it comes to wine.
It’s actually insanely good to take wine to the states.
Basically $1.50/bottle. you have something like a 3 bottle limit but if you declare it they can use discretion and just wave you through which seems to be the norm. They just want you to declare it.
$1.50/bottle is irrespective of price.
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Is the limit per person, i.e., 6 bottles for the two of you?
Basically it seems like they are really loose on it.
https://www.cellartracker.com/forum/tm.asp?m=531578
I may even of got those tax rates wrong. Rules and rates changes from state to state (OBVIOUSLY) but for Mass it seems to be suggesting $0.55 per GALLON of wine.
The biggest constraint seems to be weight allowance in baggage. 12 bottles typically is the weight allowance for one bag on most airlines.
I brought 6 bottles in the summer, declared it and just got waved through. Thought I’ll try 12-bottles next time given the cost is so low.
Sorry for not being more concrete and definitive!!
I’d heard the duty/tax was low, and knew it varied from state to state, but didn’t know the numbers. That is low and makes it worth it.
Actually there is no federal limit (might be state limits) on the amount of alcohol you can import to the US for personal consumption, it’s just that the duty free limit is 1 litre per person aged over 21. If the duty/tax is that low, it’s a no-brainer just to declare it. Of course very large amounts might attract questions about why you’re bringing it, but would need to be more than you could likely get in 8 mins of Supermarket Sweep.
The limit for baggage is a separate thing, controlled by the FAA. It’s max 5 litres per bag for alcohol 24-70% ABV, supposedly higher for <24% ABV but I don’t know the figures.
I hardly ever bring alcohol into the US (tend to bring quite a bit more out…), but I’m generally paranoid about declaring everything to US customs. It’s not a moral thing, I have Global Entry, which would be removed for any customs infraction. I live in fear of a random piece of fruit left in a bag, especially when travelling with the family 
French hypermarche are a bit hit and miss with wine selections. My favourite would be a large L’Eclerc if you can locate one, especially in a wealthy area. These often have a temperature controlled Cave area and a reasonable selection of things like cru classe Bordeaux.
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An older French lady told me to always shop at Nicolas (if no indie), so was glad to see one at Geneva airport 
I presume that’s 8 minutes if you add in the whinging that starts after 5? I feel your pain, I haven’t been able to go round vineyards/wineshops for 10 years.
It looks like there is a Nicolas just by junction 14 off the A40 in Annemasse (so en route to Cluses/Samoens etc). Not tried it yet since am normally driving past there at c.1am en route to near Morzine. There are also couple independent wine shops just off junction 15 (Vins Duvernay and Le Marchand de Vins Fillinges), again have driven past but always when they are ferme!
First time posting, but topic is one I have long pondered. I had no idea re the Nicolas in Geneva airport, normally so focused on picking up hire car.
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When I am in that area I use the Casino hypermarkets. I suspect you will be ski-ing south of Geneva whereas I am normally driving north of Geneva, shopping in Pontarlier. There they offer a good selection of Jura specialites like vin jaune and vin de paille and they may well be stocked in their other branches.