Cyprus-Forum.com

[devil]

There is no duty to be paid on imported wine. The only costs are transport. I have seen cheap Italian "Vino di Tavolo" plonk sell at <£1.10/75 cl bottle, so this establishes a baseline of the basic cost.

Take the French "Vin du pays d'Oc". This is also plonk, grown in the Herault region and sells retail for typically €0.50-0.60/litre in France, say €0.40 or £0.25 per bottle. Price here hovers around the £2.50-3.00 mark. Who is being ripped off?

Worse: the supermarkets (except Carrefour) are offering a Beaujolais nouveau 2006 for ~£8.50. This is daylight robbery. Most Beaujolais nouveau is simply not worth drinking and the retail price in France is typically €2-2.50/bottle for the better ones. I do not know whether this wine is good or otherwise (I suspect it may not be), but anyone who pays even half that price for such a wine needs his head examining, remembering that it has not undergone a second fermentation and should be drunk within about 3 months. Who is being ripped off?

However, Carrefour have a really first-class Beaujolais nouveau for £2.90, which shows it can be done: yet Carrefour pay the transport twice, because it is shipped first to Greece, then to Cyprus. Believe me, this one is really well worth having, even though the price is slightly exaggerated.

I feel that Cypriot importers and shops need to learn that the advised consumer will not pay these exaggerated prices.

[blondophile]

Easy way to explain : Crook.