Who can ship wine to Latvia?

Commercial wine shipments into Latvia need a forwarder that can handle excise goods, not just freight. Unicore Overseas arranges wine and spirits shipments by air, sea container and road groupage into Riga, including temperature-controlled transport, customs clearance, excise documentation and delivery into a bonded excise warehouse. The importer of record must hold the relevant Latvian alcohol trading licence; Unicore works alongside your licensed entity or warehouse keeper.

How much excise duty is payable on wine in Latvia?

Latvia charges excise per hectolitre of product for wine and fermented drinks, and per hectolitre of pure alcohol for spirits, on top of customs duty and 21% VAT. Rates are set in the Latvian excise duty law and are revised periodically, so always confirm the current figure with the State Revenue Service (VID) before pricing a shipment. Excise becomes payable when the goods leave duty suspension — moving them into a bonded excise warehouse defers the charge until release for consumption.

What documents does a wine shipment to Latvia need?

From outside the EU: commercial invoice and packing list, transport document (Bill of Lading or AWB), EU EORI number, import customs declaration, certificate of origin where a preference applies, plus the VI-1 analysis document for many third-country wines. Within the EU: an e-AD movement document raised in the EMCS system, moving under duty suspension between authorised warehouse keepers. Bottles must also meet EU labelling rules before release for consumption.

Does wine need temperature-controlled transport?

For fine wine, yes. Wine is stable roughly between 12 and 18°C; above about 25°C it ages prematurely and below freezing the liquid expands and pushes corks. A standard container in the Baltic winter or a Mediterranean summer swings well outside that band, so Unicore ships fine wine either in reefer containers set to a fixed temperature, in insulated thermal liners for shorter sea legs, or by air with passive thermal packaging for high-value cases.

How much does it cost to ship wine to Latvia?

Freight itself follows normal rates: a pallet from Spain, Italy or France by road groupage is an indicative €90–180, a reefer container from Chile or South Africa €3,200–5,000, and air freight for a high-value case €5.50–9.50 per chargeable kg. Excise duty and 21% VAT are usually the larger part of the landed cost, and both depend on volume and alcohol strength rather than freight. Unicore quotes freight, insurance and clearance together so you can model the full landed cost per bottle.

Shipping Wine & Spirits to Latvia

Excise, licences, EMCS paperwork and temperature control — a practical guide to importing alcohol into Latvia.

By Unicore Overseas SIA teamLast updated: 2 September 2026

Short answer: alcohol is an excise good, so a wine shipment into Latvia needs a licensed importer, an excise status and the right movement documents on top of ordinary freight and customs. Unicore Overseas moves wine and spirits by road, sea container and air, including temperature control, Riga customs clearance and delivery into a bonded excise warehouse.

How wine reaches Latvia — Unicore indicative 2026 rates

Transport mode	Indicative price	Best for
Road groupage from the EU (Spain, Italy, France)	€90–180 per pallet	Regular intra-EU shipments, 3–6 days
Temperature-controlled road	+25–40% over standard	Fine wine in summer or winter
Reefer container (Chile, South Africa, Australia)	€3,200–5,000 per container	Large overseas volumes, fixed temperature
Sea container with thermal liner	€2,800–4,500 + liner	Mid-value cargo, shorter sea legs
Air freight with passive thermal packaging	€5.50–9.50 per kg	Collectible wines, samples, auction lots

Excise, VAT and customs duty

Three charges apply to alcohol in Latvia. Customs duty applies only to non-EU goods and depends on the HS code. Excise is charged per hectolitre of product for wine and fermented drinks, and per hectolitre of pure alcohol for spirits. On top of both sits 21% VAT. Rates are set in the excise duty law and revised periodically, so confirm the current figure on the State Revenue Service website before pricing a shipment.

The key planning point: excise falls due not on arrival but when goods leave duty suspension. Delivering the shipment into a bonded excise warehouse defers the payment until the stock is sold, which materially eases cash flow for an importer bringing in a full pallet or container.

The alcohol import process, step by step

Step	What it involves
1. Licence	The importer needs a Latvian alcohol wholesale licence, or a licensed partner to act as importer of record
2. Excise status	Registered consignee or excise warehouse keeper, so goods can arrive under duty suspension
3. Documents	Invoice, packing list, VI-1 for third-country wines, EORI; inside the EU an e-AD raised in EMCS
4. Transport	Temperature-controlled carriage; Unicore arranges collection from the winery or warehouse
5. Customs and excise	Import declaration in Riga, customs duty, 21% VAT; excise falls due on release for consumption
6. Labelling	EU labelling rules and Latvian-language stickers before retail sale

Why temperature decides the outcome

Wine is stable roughly between 12 and 18°C. Above 25°C it ages prematurely and loses aroma; below freezing the liquid expands, pushes the cork and the shipment arrives leaking. A standard container in a Mediterranean summer passes 40°C, while a trailer in a Baltic winter drops below zero. Either ruins the wine irreversibly, and insurers often decline the loss if the carriage was not temperature-controlled.

The technical comparison of liners and reefer options is in our guide to thermal insulation in sea containers for wine, and a worked example is the fine wine air shipment case study.

The usual mistakes

Shipping third-country wine without the VI-1 document — the cargo waits at the port while the producer arranges the analysis
No e-AD opened before an intra-EU departure, so the goods lose duty-suspension status
Excise left out of the sales price — it routinely exceeds the freight cost itself
A standard container chosen for a summer sailing to save on the reefer
Missing Latvian-language labelling, which blocks the stock from retail sale

Unicore's wine and spirits logistics service covers the whole chain: collection at the producer, temperature-controlled carriage, Riga customs clearance and delivery into a bonded excise warehouse.

Planning a wine shipment?

Request a quote with origin country, bottle count and target delivery date — we'll tell you whether the lane needs a reefer, a liner, or nothing special at all.

Related resources

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Wine & Spirits Logistics

Temperature-controlled handling for wine and spirits.