Sour grapes? B.C. man loses battle to get back 2 $5K wine bottles

In his submissions to federal court, Yucheng Su claimed he likes to drink wine — but probably wouldn't qualify as a "wine collector."

Canada Border Services Agency officer Geoffrey MacLean, on the other hand, declared himself a collector with a "very strong interest" in wine, its vintages and varietals.

And the seven-year CBSA veteran said he was dumbstruck by one of two bottles Su failed to declare at the Douglas border crossing in November 2021.

"This bottle particularly stood out to me. Domaine de la Romanee-Conti is world-renowned as one of the best wine producers in the world, if not the best," MacLean wrote in a court affidavit.

"I found it simply unfathomable that anyone with an appreciation for wine could have forgotten that a bottle of 1996 Domaine de la Romanee-Conti La Tache was in their vehicle."

'A gift from his cousin'

Last week, Federal Court Justice William Pentney rejected Su's bid to overturn the CBSA's decision to seize two bottles of pricey plonk found in the rear of his Jaguar on a trip back to Canada from Washington state.

According to court documents, the 26-year-old permanent resident had been visiting a cousin who recently had a baby.

"He ordered some wine to be delivered to his cousin's house, which he brought back to Canada," Pentney wrote.

A photograph included in federal court filings details with circles the location where border guards found two undeclared bottles of wine in the back of Yucheng Su's Jaguar. The 26-year-old did declare a box containing other bottles of wine. (CBSA/Federal Court)

Su told the first border guard he encountered he was bringing back one package of cigarettes and a box containing 13 bottles of wine worth about $1,300 in total.

But a secondary inspection of Su's vehicle turned up two more wine bottles stored separately: a 2012 Domaine de la Romanee-Conti Richebourg and the 1996 bottle of Domaine de la Romanee-Conti La Tache that caught MacLean's gimlet eye.

CBSA border guard Kimberley Scott said in an affidavit that she asked Su why he didn't mention the two undeclared bottles — one found wrapped in Styrofoam inside a bag and the other located in a side compartment.

"The Subject responded that he had forgot about the bottles and that they had been a gift from his cousin," Scott wrote.

Scott claimed she asked Su the value of the two bottles. He said he didn't know.

"The Subject subsequently called his cousin regarding the value of the Two Undeclared Bottles of Wine. The Subject's cousin did not know the value of the Two Undeclared Bottles of Wine," Scott wrote.

"I looked online and saw that each bottle of the Two Undeclared Bottles of Wine was worth at least $5,000 CAD each."

'Please don't seize them'

In his appeal, Su didn't dispute the value of the two bottles of wine or the fact he first failed to declare them. But he said the first CBSA officer he encountered made a series of errors, failing to indicate the value of the goods he did declare and mistakenly marking him as a non-resident.

He also claimed that Scott never asked him about any gifts.

Travellers return through a CBSA entry at the Canada-U.S.A border. CBSA officers flagged Yucheng Su for secondary inspection at the Douglas crossing in November 2021 and then seized two $5,000 bottles of wine he failed to declare. (Ben Nelms/CBC)

The documents filed in the court case include a statement from Su, who at one point begged the CBSA to reconsider the seizure — offering to pay the tax and any associated fine.

"I am an honest person. I understand this time I have a misunderstanding, and I have [to] be responsible for the goods I bring in to Canada. So this gives me a lesson," he wrote.

"Please don't seize them. I will be really careful in the future."

But neither the CBSA nor the judge relented.

Pentney rejected Su's argument that the "sloppiness" of the officers in filling out forms and failure to follow procedures should call the integrity of their actions into question.

The CBSA's records showed that Su had crossed into Canada about two dozen times in the past five years.

"[Su] was given the opportunity to complete his declaration before his vehicle was inspected, and he knew that he was required to pay duty on the wine he was importing," the judge wrote.

Pentney said Su didn't "arrive at the border after a long or arduous trip, and can point to no other factor that would lead to doubt about his capacity or opportunity to make a fulsome declaration."

"Simply put, [Su] was provided the opportunity to make a full declaration of the goods he was importing, but he failed to do so," the judge concluded.

"He acknowledges that he did not declare the two bottles of wine, and his efforts to shift the blame for this to the [border guards] have not succeeded."