Advice for flying South African wines from SA back to the US

Has anyone had any experience with this? Are there any tips or tricks you can recommend?

I own a “wine check” baggage and can check the bag (so long as it is under 50lbs) on my Delta Airlines flight from Johannesburg to Atlanta. But I wanted to solicit the boards extensive knowledge on such travel concerns in case there are pitfalls or issues to be aware of.

I have weeks to prepare (this is an early October visit) so if I need anything in preparation I have time.

Lastly if there are specific vineyards people can recommend (I will be based out of Cape Town) I welcome your suggestions.

Thanks in advance.

I don’t think there is any problem flying home with a case or two of wines from anywhere in your Wine Check.

There is a very slight chance Customs may make you pay a duty on them, but even if so, I think it’s a meaningless tiny amount.

I’ve heard great things about tasting over there. I expect you’ll have a great time. I’d emphasize bringing home things that are not commonly found in the USA.

I second Chris’s advice on bringing back things hard or impossible to find here. There are some great wines in SA that don’t make it to the US – and they are much cheaper in country as well! Cape Town is of course near all of the major wine regions in SA. So it really depends on what sort of wines you like. It has been a while since I have actually been in SA wine country, so I cannot comment as much anymore on the tasting experience at different places. But if you let us know what you like I am sure others (and maybe me) can chime in with recommendations.

Here’s a recent thread on South African wines and wineries.

And a recent thread on shipping and customs.

And another.

I brought back 2 cases of wine from Australia in July. Each state has their own rules so the state you fly into might have more taxes than US Customs.

No one asked us at the border for any taxes.

Great information. Thanks for all the helpful replies and links.

Regarding any suggested wines to try, my tastes have narrowed over the years. 20-year old Bordeaux and aged Napa Cabs (To Kalons, Schrader, and similar) are my favorites. This is why Pobega stopped inviting me to his dinners For Pinots, I drink any and all Jamie Kutch’s wines as well as 10-year old Rochioli.

I welcome any and all suggested wineries to visit or wines not available in the US.

Kevin

Easy. Pour all the Pinotage out and bring home the bottles empty.

You sound like me.

We visited a lot of wineries when we were there a bit over a decade ago, so this information might be stale, but … the two I remember most were Thelema Mountain Vineyards which had very good Cabernet and Syrah but was most notable for the jaw-dropping scenery. Very nice people and beautiful vineyard surrounded by impressive mountains. Meerlust is a well-known name, but it was a terrific visit. We were the only guests and had a VIP experience. They had a varietally correct pinot noir that was a pleasant surprise. We took a bit over the limit home, the customs agent waived us through and we had the impression that we shouldn’t have told him because the three extra bottles weren’t worth the effort.

Hi Kevin - The place for Cabernet is Stellenbosch and perhaps the most highly rated Cab winery is Kanonkop Estate. They only grow red wine, they have a 100% Cabernet and a Bdx Blend (70% Cab) named Paul Sauer that gained the first ever 100 points from Tim Atkin MW in his annual SA ratings for the 2015 vintage.

Best Pinot is probably to found in the Hemel in Aarde Valley. Hamilton Russell were the first there and following their success others have opened along the one road that goes through the valley.

There are more wineries than you could possibly visit within an hours drive from CT. Allow an hour to get to Stellenbosch region, 2 hours to get to Hemel in Aarde

Take the N2 motorway out of CT - great care must be taken as the motorway splits as you leave CT and it’s easy to be in the wrong lane unable to change with volume of traffic and very short notice given.

When you see sign for Stellenbosch that’s the R44, exit and head left, you’ll soon start hitting wineries. Kanonkop is on the R44 after the town of Stellenbosch; it’s on the right marked by wine trail sign and with a cannon on white pillar at entrance.

For Hemel in Aarde continue on N2, it ceases to be a motorway after the R44 junction and speed limit drops from 120Kph. Keep going. You go up the steep mountain ahead of you on Sir Lowrys Drive (look out view at top right - mind the baboons), over plateau and down again. Now you can continue to Caladon and turn right R316 follow signs to Hermanus R320. You’ll be going down the valley. Creation Wines will be one of the first wineries and they make cracking Pinots.

But I’d suggest going the other way. After descending plateau exit N2 at Bot River onto R43 and follow that towards Hermanus. Before Hermanus there’s traffic lights and the end of R320. A short way up, on the right, is Hamilton Russell. But on that corner is a small shopping mall with arguably the best wine store in the Cape - Village Wines. They have a huge selection at competitive prices and they can give useful advice. Also there’s coffee shops and restaurants in the complex.

But before you go I strongly suggest you getting Platters 2019 South African Wine Guide. It’s an encyclopaedia, with more than 8,000 wines from 900+ producers reviews. Details such as opening times and maps of wineries. That will give you the wineries you want to focus on

Also, you probably know this, but they drive on the correct side of the road in South Africa, so take care when turning right as you have to cross a lane. If there’s no other cars around it’s easy to end on the right (or as we say) the wrong side of the road

Lock your car doors and close windows for safety and always when baboons are present. Expect to find people crossing motorways, and riding bicycles. Keep to speed limits as there are a lot of hidden speed cameras and the first you’ll know is when the car rental company charges your credit card a couple of months after your return.


Any more, just PM me.

BTW if you visit Kanokop you must try their excellent Pinotage, they have some of the oldest vines and they will have an open 10 year old for tasting

Brought back 4 cases from Cape Town. Routing was CPT-JNB-ATL-PDX. Everything arrived intact in the original wine boxes. My wife went up to a customs employee in PDX and asked what a reasonable amount of wine would be. Said maybe 7 or 8 cases per person. His response indicated that it was at the discretion of the agent, which is confirmed on the TTB website. Any amount imported considered beyond personal consumption would be subject to the excise tax which is nominal (~7 cents per bottles <16% ABV)

Personal Importation of Beverage Alcohol Products

As a practical matter, it is usually at the discretion of the CBP District Director at the port of entry to make the decision of whether or not a particular importation is, in fact, for personal use only. In certain unusual circumstances, TTB may exercise joint jurisdiction with CBP in making this determination.

As far as wineries are concerned, our favorites (by a long shot) were Sadie Family and David & Nadia. Weren’t too into Klein, Mullineux and others we visited. I tend to favor lower alcohol, minimal intervention wines.

Enjoy your time there and explore Johannesburg a bit. We really loved that city, perhaps more so than Cape Town.

I was there in July, and I can’t get back out there soon enough.

Based on your tastes I think your first stop should be Annandale, and you may want to get another wine check. I can’t recommend this place enough.

Out of Stellenbosch, Thelema’s top wines are good - such as The Mint and Rabelais. Unfortunately they suffer a bit from the New World tendency to make one of everything when they really shouldn’t be (this applies to a lot of SA wineries). But their best wines are very good.

Stark-Conde has terrific scenery and their Three Pines range is good, if a bit more polished than Thelema. The Cab and Syrah are good and they have a nice white blend as to which the name escapes me.

Hamilton Russell as everyone has stated out of Hemel-en-Aarde. Make an appointment or else there may not be much to taste or anyone there. There are other producers in the Hermanus area as well, and while they are worth visiting I found them to be quite a step below Hamilton Russell.

Love Mullineux though did not stop there, as we were staying in Hermanus and the Swartland is in the opposite direction. Lots of good stuff happening over there.

I took about a case home, declared it and didn’t pay any duty. The wines are very cheap there.

Franschhoek and Stellenbosch both pretty close to CT. Hemel-and-Aarde valley little further. Don’t miss Hamilton Russell wines as mentioned. Beautiful and gorgeous country.

Really some incredible posts here (PFMay, what great details!).

Thanks to everyone for sharing their experiences. I should be well provided for with this litany of suggestions and tips.

Many thanks to all who contributed.

Cheers!

Hi Kevin

I forgot to mention two outstanding Pinot wineries in Hemel en Aarde Valley - Newton Johnson and Bouchard-Finlayson, latter a venture started in 1989 by Paul Bouchard of Burgundy and local winemaker Peter Finlayson. When therer also try Hannibal, a blend comprising Italian varieties Sangiovese, Nebbiolo, Barbera and French varieties Pinot, Syrah and Mouvedre. It works!!

For Cabernet read this article put online this week by journalist Emile Joubert about the Stellenbosch Cabernet Collective - http://winegoggle.co.za/2019/09/03/stellenbosch-life-is-a-cabernet/

We visited Hamilton Russel, Ataraxia, Bouchard-Finalyson, Domaine des Dieux, and Southern Right. The best wines, by far, were Hamilton Russel and Ataraxia. Both are great places to visit also. We really had a amazing time in Hermanus.