wine selection at duty free shops in NRT?
#1
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2009
Location: FRA / YEG
Programs: AC Super Elite, Radisson Platinum, Accor Platinum
Posts: 11,874
wine selection at duty free shops in NRT?
I was just wondering whether the duty-free shops in NRT offer any wine, and if so, what the selection is like?
I'm not looking for anything fancy, just a few bottles of wine in the $12-$20 range.
I'm not looking for anything fancy, just a few bottles of wine in the $12-$20 range.
#2
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2009
Location: FRA / YEG
Programs: AC Super Elite, Radisson Platinum, Accor Platinum
Posts: 11,874
Or maybe to phrase it differently: Has anyone seen wine in the duty free shops at all? (some duty free shops I've been to only hard hard liquor)
#3
Original Member
Join Date: May 1998
Location: Tokyo, Japan (or Vienna whenever possible)
Posts: 6,379
Buying wine in Japan when one is from and returning to somewhere that actually makes decent wine is silly I am afraid. Import costs associated with taxes and transport make any wine here pricier than Germany, London, or Canada. Plus buying wine there offers a far better selection. A $20 wine in Europe can be quite stellar. Here is is likely to be garbage. If you are looking for Japanese wine a better thing to do would be ordering it online for delivery at your hotel in advance of your arrival.
#4
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2009
Location: FRA / YEG
Programs: AC Super Elite, Radisson Platinum, Accor Platinum
Posts: 11,874
Thanks for the response! I'll be flying NRT-PVG, so I assumed picking up a few bottles of decent/drinkable wine at NRT may be the easiest option.
#5
Buying wine in Japan when one is from and returning to somewhere that actually makes decent wine is silly I am afraid. Import costs associated with taxes and transport make any wine here pricier than Germany, London, or Canada. Plus buying wine there offers a far better selection. A $20 wine in Europe can be quite stellar. Here is is likely to be garbage. If you are looking for Japanese wine a better thing to do would be ordering it online for delivery at your hotel in advance of your arrival.
#6
Original Member
Join Date: May 1998
Location: Tokyo, Japan (or Vienna whenever possible)
Posts: 6,379
US$ is the currency I used in below comparison.
LCBO price $69.80
Wassy's in Osaka (Well known wine merchant here, highly typical) $90.89
Checking prices is most easily done via wine-searcher. There is very little here that is not cheaper esewhere when discussing imported highly taxed items. Wine and shoes come to mind. :-)
#7
Not a good rule of thumb I am afraid. Take for example, Laurent Perrier 2004.
US$ is the currency I used in below comparison.
LCBO price $69.80
Wassy's in Osaka (Well known wine merchant here, highly typical) $90.89
Checking prices is most easily done via wine-searcher. There is very little here that is not cheaper esewhere when discussing imported highly taxed items. Wine and shoes come to mind. :-)
US$ is the currency I used in below comparison.
LCBO price $69.80
Wassy's in Osaka (Well known wine merchant here, highly typical) $90.89
Checking prices is most easily done via wine-searcher. There is very little here that is not cheaper esewhere when discussing imported highly taxed items. Wine and shoes come to mind. :-)
Take a bottle of Ruinart Brut Rose
LCBO unavailable
7440 yen on Rakuten including taxes and shipping. This comes to my hotel room, waiting for me and goes back on the plane to ICN. Amazon is 7880 yen and comes Prime within a day in Tokyo. Can definitely live with $62-66 Ruinart rose!
Wine searcher has one for 45 Euros (very good deal? I don't know what they retail for in Europe) but then I would have to pay 55 EUR shipping and possibly get it seized by Korean customs.
Don't get a chance to go to France and fill my luggage in the Motherland but I'm going off-topic here. You Japanese vets would know more than me.
Last edited by Aventine; Apr 27, 2015 at 4:05 am Reason: added more details
#8
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Left
Programs: FT
Posts: 7,285
[if the latter, just buy at yesmywine.com - the stuff around your price point can not be any more expensive. yesmywine does have a sale on yellow tail for about CAD$12 bucks. although you may need someone to help you navigate the site.]
Last edited by mkjr; Apr 27, 2015 at 6:39 am