The Auswine Forum

I will be stopping over at Hong Kong for about 2 hours - want to purchase about 4-5 bottles for my trip - can anyone tell me what the duty free stores are like in terms of price or the range of wines?

Last I was there in Oct, good range of back vintage Bordeaux and cheap champagnes. I didn't have any quality issues with the Bordeaux too, good fills and cork condition.

No good if you want to bring it back to Australia, because they don't supply in a sealed bag to satisfy Australian regulations. Pity because Champagne prices are probably the best - 2002 Dom P. Aus$120.
Might have to buy it in Singapore if you're stopping over there.

WineRick wrote:No good if you want to bring it back to Australia, because they don't supply in a sealed bag to satisfy Australian regulations. Pity because Champagne prices are probably the best - 2002 Dom P. Aus$120.
Might have to buy it in Singapore if you're stopping over there.

Having just got back from Singapore, and shopping at their duty free liquor retail outlets at Changi, I can honestly I would not buy certain wines from them.
They have a wonderful selection of french,Australian, US and even some South African wines, however the majority of their bottles were standing up, exposed to some harsh light and not in the best of condition.

I would probably buy wines that are popular and didnt sit on the shelves for very long (mostly champagnes like Dom, Perrier-Jouët, Billecart-Salmon ect)
however i saw a 1998 Peter Lehmann Stonewell Shiraz there sitting amongst the 2006's.....bit weird especially as it was the same price as the current release.

They did have a proper wine fridge, but this was only for the most expensive of wines.....IE I think the cheapest one in there was Grange going up to $2k+ for some french reds (sorry didnt look at the labels)

But the main reason for my opinion is having a close look at some of the bottles reveled weeping corks, bulging out of the top of the casings. In particular were 6 very sad looking (and probably ruined) 2006 penfolds bin 707's. At $200SNG a pop,
I almost shed a tear at their condition when is saw some wine running down the sides. Not worth the risk.

Spirits/liqueurs on the other hand....WOW.... I picked up a 1ltr Bottle of Tanqueray 10 for like AUD $31. Pretty good range of Scotch and Cognac's too, although I had to buy the missus her baileys, so no tanquey got the nod over a cognac......freakin tough choice let me tell you!

WineRick wrote:No good if you want to bring it back to Australia, because they don't supply in a sealed bag to satisfy Australian regulations. Pity because Champagne prices are probably the best - 2002 Dom P. Aus$120.
Might have to buy it in Singapore if you're stopping over there.

If a person is flying direct from Hong Kong (or any other place) to Australia it should be of little concern to Australian officials if your bottle is in a sealed package as you leave the airport. Customs and declarations take place after you collect your luggage. Similarly an "unsealed" bottle in your luggage isn't a problem. The security concerns for liquids is about boarding planes not disembarking.

The only worry a person should have is the duty payable on amounts exceeding the duty free allowance.

Cheers...................Mahmoud.

Last time I was at HK airport they had a security screening actually at the departure gate for AU flights - restricting the carriage of liquids over 100mls... i.e. they would have confiscated any duty free you had bought. Not sure if they do that every time and if your sneaky you might avoid it by stowing it right at the bottom of your carry on, but its definitely a risk.

sjw_11 wrote:Last time I was at HK airport they had a security screening actually at the departure gate for AU flights - restricting the carriage of liquids over 100mls... i.e. they would have confiscated any duty free you had bought. Not sure if they do that every time and if your sneaky you might avoid it by stowing it right at the bottom of your carry on, but its definitely a risk.

Are you suggesting that they were confiscating bottles that were purchased at the duty free shop in the departure lounge? Seems odd, it would imply that the deperture lounge, which is usually post security, is itself not secure. In my experience it is the transit point that the problem of the 100ml limit occurs, not the duty free purchase prior to embarking on the final leg. In almost every case I have to present my boarding card when purchasing and sometimes the bottles are put in bags and not sealed.

Mahmoud.

Mahmoud Ali wrote:

WineRick wrote:No good if you want to bring it back to Australia, because they don't supply in a sealed bag to satisfy Australian regulations. Pity because Champagne prices are probably the best - 2002 Dom P. Aus$120.
Might have to buy it in Singapore if you're stopping over there.

If a person is flying direct from Hong Kong (or any other place) to Australia it should be of little concern to Australian officials if your bottle is in a sealed package as you leave the airport. Customs and declarations take place after you collect your luggage. Similarly an "unsealed" bottle in your luggage isn't a problem. The security concerns for liquids is about boarding planes not disembarking.

The only worry a person should have is the duty payable on amounts exceeding the duty free allowance.

Cheers...................Mahmoud.

What if the carry-on bottle contains liquid explosive?
Australian officials are naturally very concerned what gets carried onto planes.
Your checked baggage has already left your possession before you get to duty free, therefore any liquids
carried on has to satisfy the '100ml/personal use' liquid rule for Australian entry.
In Singapore, and other airports, your duty free is given to you after you've gone through the screening at your departure lounge. It is in a heavily sealed plastic bag, which if broken/opened will cause the liquor to
be confiscated at the entry point to Australia.
Anyway, at HK duty free payment points, there's a sign saying any liquor purchased won't be allowed into Australia. End of story.

WineRick wrote:

Mahmoud Ali wrote:

WineRick wrote:No good if you want to bring it back to Australia, because they don't supply in a sealed bag to satisfy Australian regulations. Pity because Champagne prices are probably the best - 2002 Dom P. Aus$120.
Might have to buy it in Singapore if you're stopping over there.

If a person is flying direct from Hong Kong (or any other place) to Australia it should be of little concern to Australian officials if your bottle is in a sealed package as you leave the airport. Customs and declarations take place after you collect your luggage. Similarly an "unsealed" bottle in your luggage isn't a problem. The security concerns for liquids is about boarding planes not disembarking.

The only worry a person should have is the duty payable on amounts exceeding the duty free allowance.

Cheers...................Mahmoud.

What if the carry-on bottle contains liquid explosive?
Australian officials are naturally very concerned what gets carried onto planes.
Your checked baggage has already left your possession before you get to duty free, therefore any liquids
carried on has to satisfy the '100ml/personal use' liquid rule for Australian entry.
In Singapore, and other airports, your duty free is given to you after you've gone through the screening at your departure lounge. It is in a heavily sealed plastic bag, which if broken/opened will cause the liquor to
be confiscated at the entry point to Australia.
Anyway, at HK duty free payment points, there's a sign saying any liquor purchased won't be allowed into Australia. End of story.

Really? Liquid explosives in a bottle of wine or Scotch purchased at the departure area of an airport? The departure area that a passenger enters only after presenting a boarding card and passing security? In that case the whole airport is insecure.

There are no Australian officials at foreign airports, only local officials who also don't want passengers carrying liquid explosives onto planes. If it's possible to sneak liquid explosives disguised as a bottle of wine into the post security departure duty free store so that a passenger can buy it and take it on board the aircraft then it's just as likely that the very same liquid can be smuggled on board the aircraft in other ways.

There is no security check when you disembark at an Australian airport, or any other airport for that matter. The passenger goes through immigration, collects their luggage from the carousel, and then goes through customs, either the green channel if they have nothing to declare, or the red channel if they do have something to declare. And they do not confiscate "unsealed" bottles after you pass through customs on your way out the door. That so called liquid explosive that a passenger is carrying out the door of the airport is likely to be available locally.

The only reason I can see why duty free purchases made at the airport cannot be taken on board the aircraft is because the duty free store in a less secure part of the airport, not the departure lounge near the boarding gate. If there is a sign at the Hong Kong airport saying that duty free purchases are not allowed into Australia, and not Canada or the US, then it might be something to do with an agreement between Hong Kong and Australia whose purpose might be to get passengers to buy at Sydney duty free. It's Hong Kong not allowing passengers to take the duty free item to Australia, not Australian officials in Australia confiscating the bottle on entry.

You can also buy bottles of spirits and liqueur on board the aircraft. I hope it's not from the same supplier to the duty free store in Hong Kong.

Cheers.........................Mahmoud.

Mahmoud, I agree my thinking was it is a scam by the AU government to insist you can't bring duty free in due to the "risk" of not trusting foreign airport security procedures, that is in truth motivated by a desire to give Sydney Airport a monopoly!

Having just recently returned to Australia from HK, I can confirm that if you are travelling to Australia you cannot purchase any liquids from duty free at HK airport. It does seem ridiculous. Upon boarding the plane (after passing through the gate in order to board), there were security staff rifling through everyones bags confiscating any liquid. Our Gatorade that we bought pre flight at the airport was taken.
Perhaps there is an agreement with between the HK and Australian authorities in relation to duty free alcohol. Considering a bottle of 18yo Glenlivet was HK$540 (AU$66) and 1L Tanquerray HK$160 (AU$19.60), respectively the prices were $89 and 2 for $60 at Sydney Duty Free there is a bit of $ to be saved when buying the grog offshore.
Better safe than sorry though, but it is ridiculous to think that you once have gone through security you can't purchase any liquids in a 'secure' environment of duty free.

Same problem applies in Singapore, but the duty free shops airside deliver alcohol and perfume purchases to the gate lounge post security check, so they can be taken onto the plane and into Australia. From Winerick’s posting on 10 Jan it appears this service is not available in HK.

you can't bring that much into australia anyway, from memory, you are allow to bring 3 bottles of wine(750ml each) max.

I'm glad this subject has been resurrected as I can update it based on personal experience as I went through Hong Kong airport almost two weeks ago.

First off, we should be clear, there is no 100ml restriction on check-in luggage. In them you can carry wine and spirits and are limited only by what you feel safe to carry and by the amount allowed by the country you are entering.

After check-in, when entering the departure area, you will face a security check and here the 100ml restriction applies. In fact the 100ml refers to single containers. You are allowed to take multiple bottles and jars of liquids, each to a maximum of 100ml provided the total does not exceed one liter. In most airports you will not be allowed to take a larger bottle even if it contains less than 100ml. So if you have a 200ml bottle and it's less than half full it will be confiscated.

Once inside the departure area you are usually allowed to buy duty free wine and spirits and enter the plane. In Hong Kong however there is a sign posted at the till informing all passengers going directly to Australia and the United States that they will not sell them wine or spirits as they will not be allowed to board the aircraft with bottles of liquids exceeding 100ml. To me this is not a safety issue at all but rather a perverse application of the 100ml rule as you can buy some of the very same products on board the aircraft.

If there is a worry about security at the airport and that airport staff can somehow tamper and package a sealed bottle of wine or spirit then how about a carton of cigarettes, a digital camera, or a box of tea. Then again why not the bottles of water, juice, wine and spirits supplied to the plane.

My advice to anyone planning to go through Hong kong is to buy the duty free items when exiting the airport and pack them into your check-in luggage. You can do this even if you aren't staying in Hong Kong but have a long enough transit at the airport. I did this at my stopover prior to arriving in Hong kong. I bought two bottle of Scotch and a Benedictine when I left Dhaka airport(Bangladesh) and carried them on board in my carry-on. In Kunming, where I had to retrieve my luggage and go through customs, I packed the bottles into the check-in luggage. In Hong Kong I cleared customs and the next day checked in with the three bottles.

Just make sure that you don't bring more than 2.25 liters of wine or spirits per person into Australia or else you will pay duty not on the amount exceeded but on the ENTIRE amount (in Canada we pay duty only on the amont exceeded).

Cheers.................Mahmoud.

In my experience, the application of duty where you bring more than 2.25 litres is not a certainty, esp for wine/beer. I would advise declaring it if you have more though. The staff in Aus are generally more focussed on qaurantine and as long as your not taking the piss (so to speak and bringing a case or more) will often just waive you through regardless. Your more likely to get accosted for carrying wooden products. The tax on wine being based on value helps (its more of a hassle to calculate). If you don't declare it and its your unlucky day your more likely to cop a nasty fine as well (as watchers of the various Customs TV shows will know).

Of course theres always a risk you'll have the customs person with an eye for detail and a ready calculator...

I was in Singapore recently and went to their duty free section hoping to get rid of my excess Singapore dollars on wine purchases.

I was not impressed. The prices were not competitive – most Australian wines were more expensive than I could source them here (for example, Penfolds St Henri 2008 was S$130 pb from memory) and it did concern me that some of their more mature wines (1994’s onwards) were stored standing upright, with no refrigeration and in harsh light. Some of their higher end wines (including first growths) were stored in a wine fridge.

I figured that if the way that the wine was stored at the retail point was any indication of how they may have been stored over the years that they may have been held in storage facilities (Singapore, as you know, is very hot) that it was not worth the risk buying anything with age, or anything that I would want to cellar.

Sam,

I think you are right about Australian customs being more concerned with wood, food and soil than liquor. You're not the first person I've heard say that customs can be lenient about the 2.25 liter maximum. The key, as you said, is to not go overboard, declare, and hope for the best.

Since I've never exceeded the limit on alcohol entering Australia I really don't know how much the duties are on wine and spirits. In Canada the duty on anything exceeding the limit is exhorbitant. You can claim the dearest bottles under the duty free limit but any after that is taxed on the basis of the provincial liquor store mark-up. In effect the price of the bottle you bring in is the "wholesale" price and customs charges you according to the mark-up in effect at the government liquor store of the province you enter. You've imported the bottle for the province to "sell" to you! How's that for chutzpah!

I'm lucky in that I live in a province that has privatized liquor retail and only charges a flat tax on wine and spirits. Importers pay the same amount on a bottle regardless of the value. It doesn't matter if it's a $5 dollar Jacob's Creek or a Rockford Basket Press, the tax is the same, about $4 a bottle. I can only take advantage of the lower tax by flying directly to Alberta (Calgary or Edmonton airports); if I land in Vancouver, for example, then the B.C. provincial mark-up applies, about 125% of value.

These days we have to be wary shoppers at duty free. I recently heard of a person who bought two bottles of gin at Sydney duty free on the way to Frankfurt and had them confiscated when transiting in the UK.

Cheers.............Mahmoud.

I'm in HK for a couple of days in bout a month. Simple Mel-HK, and returm. Would love to pick up a couple of bottles of DP, and suspect the airport may be the easiest option given the short stay. Does anyone know if it's possible to purchase duty free on landing, carry into HK, and pack in luggage to fly back to Aus?

simon1980

Yup thats fine, just make sure you pack it into your checked baggage not carry on... the only limit then is the 2.25litres of overall alcohol from a customs perspective when you land back in Oz.

Many thanks Sam - thought this would be the best way. Hope they have the '04, freshly arrived!

simon1980

Just a quick one. If you are over the 2.25l limit and customs decide to get you to pay - you pay on all bottles of alcohol.

If you have a friendly companion travelling, then they can carry some of the burden for you.

Cheers Cloth Ears...I have always been careful with this. Makes me remember flying back to the UK from Italy with each of my mates carrying a dozen bottles of Supertuscans onto the plane for me. Those were the days...

simon1980

Cloth Ears wrote:Just a quick one. If you are over the 2.25l limit and customs decide to get you to pay - you pay on all bottles of alcohol.

If you have a friendly companion travelling, then they can carry some of the burden for you.

How does Customs decide what the cost price of the alcohol is? Do they take your word for the cost price, or do they go check up Australian prices? (hope it isn't the latter as imported wine price in Australia are daylight robbery)

I understand it's the latter (usually internet search)...unless you have a receipt.

simon1980

simon1980 wrote:I understand it's the latter (usually internet search)...unless you have a receipt.

Sometimes they'll just take your word for it, but best to have a receipt.

Sometimes they use wine searcher!

simon1980 wrote:I'm in HK for a couple of days in bout a month. Simple Mel-HK, and returm. Would love to pick up a couple of bottles of DP, and suspect the airport may be the easiest option given the short stay. Does anyone know if it's possible to purchase duty free on landing, carry into HK, and pack in luggage to fly back to Aus?

simon1980

Yes but why would you?

DF is a rip-off. What do you want to buy? I can give you a bit of help.

I've had Aus customs google wine prices on me before.

I remember flying back from Europe with a few bottles of 4EUR Polish Vodka (Zubrowka - now a staple of most swanky bars around town. Back then, noone had heard of it). At customs they asked what it cost. I told them four Euro's. They were somewhat perplexed and charged me $9/bottle duty (30% on $30 bottle). Jokers

JamieBahrain wrote:Yes but why would you?

DF is a rip-off. What do you want to buy? I can give you a bit of help.

We just got back from a trip and picked up 1.0l Ardmore, 0.75l Aberfeldy, 1.0l black Kahlua & 1.0l Cointreau for $160. I couldn't get within $40 of this in any shop or shops that I can find. So I'll stick with using DF when I can.