Normally I would be bringing a case or possibly two on every trip. Now I am wondering with the euro/dollar mess if prices will justify me doing this, I suppose it may still work for high end wines. Giacosa Barolo sells for about 110 dollars or so here,there?

I guess just keep the dollar price in mind at home,knowing that local retailers purchased when the dollar was much stronger about 1 year ago. RR

It DOES become a problem, as does how to get them home. We used to buy a few special wines and then bring them home in a roll on bag. BUT with the new airline restrictions we would have to put them in our luggage. I'm not as comfortable with that but we might try a bottle or two this year. (taking our bubble wrap with us)
All that said we are still buying some wines in Italy, but usually only those that we can't purchase in the US. We deal with a great wine shop in Radda and Fabrizzio will find wines that are impossible to get in the US and ship them to us. The shipping cost is about 15euros per bottle so it has be be something pretty spectacular. Last year we bought 6 bottles of Siro Pacenti before it was named #1 on the Wine Spectator List.

Yeah we are faced with the same dilemma...between the falling dollar, and the new hassles with carry-on, I don't think we'll bring home our normal quota of 12-18 bottles this trip. We'll probably limit ourselves to 6-8 bottles. One small suitcase full!

What we will try to do is find bottlings that just aren't available here--limited or obscure releases not exported. And/or just a few high-end bottles. We like to buy at least a couple of bottles when we visit the wineries. If we visit only three wineries--there goes our 6-8 bottles right there! Sigh.

The thing is, we do enjoy the "hunt"...going to wine shops and enotecas and finding something special. We're going to be in several great wine areas--Montalcino, Montefalco, and Scansano--so its going to be difficult to restrain ourselves!

quote:

BUT with the new airline restrictions we would have to put them in our luggage. I'm not as comfortable with that but we might try a bottle or two this year. (taking our bubble wrap with us)

I don't bother with the bubble wrap. I put a plastic sack around a bottle and then pad it with a couple of pairs of socks on each bottle and put it in the middle of my luggage. I've not had any trouble with that arrangement.

Bill

I'm not worried about checking in wines in a suitcase, I have done 24 bottles that way before. So I will have to see the dollar equivalent price
before I justify bringing as much home. RR

The Bruno Giacosa Barolo (not the Falletto single vineyard - just the standard Barolo) hovered around 60-70 euros in several wine shops last year, and it was pretty widely available. But that is a "world-marketplace" wine, and I think the price gets jacked up a bit even in Piedmont. I've always found better buys (relative to prices at home in the US) on wines that aren't so widely distributed.
I've pretty much stopped buying there to bring here. It's not the price, it's just my back can't take the portage!

Can anyone give me a website of an italian company with local prices?. If they are not bargains in dollar prices I may not take an extra suitcase. RR

quote:

Originally posted by Robert Rainey:
Can anyone give me a website of an italian company with local prices?. If they are not bargains in dollar prices I may not take an extra suitcase. RR

In Montalcino:

http://www.enotecapierangioli.com/

Interesting exercise. I haven't done any comparisons but I will, although I suspect they aren't a bargin shop.

Also, we buy most of our wines to bring home direct from the winery, so looking at shop prices may or may not reflect accurately.

I am not sure if this is a new regulation or an old one that is just not enforced so take it for what is worth. We have been constantly told lately that there is a two bottle limit on taking back wine to the US. We have also been told that you can get by with a couple more but that the days of taking back cases is over. I suppose if one had multiple suitcases, then spreading bottles out would not be a problem. Of course, with customs as lax as it is in most US airports, the chances of having a problem are small.

We don't bring back wines but instead opt for olive oil--harder to get good oil in the US than it is wine.

Robert, not what you asked for since this is an American company with US prices. I received a shipment of brunello a couple of weeks ago from Italian Wine Merchant, located in New York. I decided to buy here in the States after a friend in Italy quoted me prices from the vineyard. The company offers wine from most of Italy's wine regions so perhaps their prices will help you make comparisons to prices stated on Italian sites.

I also get a monthly e-mail from Osticcio in Montalcino, but I don't have their website handy.

Like others, I will only be returning home with a few bottles I cannot find in the US. After several years of special packing (which I detest) and especially due to this insane exchange rate, I have decided that on future trips I shall make more time for drinking wine at the expense of time spent in search of wine. I'm tired; not sure if that made sense.

Janet,
Thanks for that great link to Pierangioli. Even with the dollar being beat up pretty bad, they still have some great buys!

quote:

I received a shipment of brunello a couple of weeks ago from Italian Wine Merchant, located in New York. I decided to buy here in the States after a friend in Italy quoted me prices from the vineyard. The company offers wine from most of Italy's wine regions so perhaps their prices will help you make comparisons to prices stated on Italian sites.

Although they do have a good selection of Italian wine, I would not use them for comparison pricing. They are one of the most expensive (i.e., overpriced) wine shops in the city. For better pricing check Zachys.com or even supercellars.com.

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For better pricing check Zachys.com or even supercellars.com.

An excellent selection and prices here:
www.popswine.com This is especially true for wines by the case.

"We don't bring back wines but instead opt for olive oil--harder to get good oil in the US than it is wine."

I think that California olive oils are very good. One can find a wide selection of all Regions of Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and Lebanese olive oils are easy to find in Metro NYC. I am a bit surprised that the same can't be said of other large metros in the US.

Peter

Olive oils,No problem there I have access to at least 40-50 different at a local store. Italian wine merchants- I am on their e-mail list and recieve their newsletter. Their prices seem ok. I am just not going to bring an extra suitcase if I find good prices,I will deal with bringing wine homwe then.

Re only bringing a few bottles. I brought 2 cases in 2005.Theoretically there could be a duty but in all cases so far, no enforcement. RR

FWIW, Mail Boxes Etc. has a special for shipping wine to the US. The time is around 15 days. Costs are:

1 btl 44 euro
2 btl 53 euro
3 btl 63 euro
6 btl 110 euro
12 btl 165 euro

If sending cases to a business, the first is 165 and the others are 150.

Cannot ship more than 3 cases to Deleware, Vermont, Florida, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland and Tennessee. Cannot ship to Utah at all.

The value of the wine should not be more than 10$ each or a total of 250$ total.

They box it up for you and send it.

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We don't bring back wines but instead opt for olive oil--harder to get good oil in the US than it is wine.

I do agree with Jane on this. Wine is something you need a whole bottle of for a meal. The payoff on a liter of exquisite oil is many many pleasurable experiences.

Sure, in big metro areas you have your choice of many oils, but you also face old oil, always filtered pretty much and fancy bottling wand labels often meaning more than the oil itself.

For those who live in areas not so alta cucina minded, oil can be an eye-opening experience and almost every region of Italy has a particular oil or two or more that you will not find even in NYC. Learning to use it as it is used here in Italy broadens the possibilities-- for me making a vinaigrette with great oil is counterproductive. Drizzling it as you might use a sauce seems more to the point.

This year I've discovered the oil of the organic frantoio above my roof on the hill, the incredible oil of the Brindisi hills and some homemade oils that are credible.

That said, I have sent friends home very happy with just the standard oil I buy in the Coop, because it is better than what they have found at home. And it's cheap.

The 2 bottle limit per person means you can bring in that allowance "free"...without paying customs duty. You can take more, but if they so desire, they can assess customs duty charges. Brendan, at Roman Wine Co., has a link on his site to the customs and regulations regarding taking/shipping wine to the US.

I never carry wine on. I have regularly checked 8 to 10 bottles per trip (in two smaller suitcases as opposed to one big one to avoid weight overages) and never experienced either breakage or customs fees, even when my luggage has been examined (I declare everything). Of course, habits could change at any time, but the feeling I get is if they feel it's for personal consumption, they don't really care.

I also don't take wine that's reqularly exported to the U.S.: no brunello, no barolo, no chianti, no amarone, not even primitivo; concentrating instead on medium-priced wines from varitals that are either not cultivated in the U.S. (schioppetino, teroldego, refosco, marzemino, tocai, pignolo, and so on), or from producers that don't export there. I find people appreciate the contrast.

Last trip I even checked a 5-liter tin of olio nuovo...made it just fine! (Of course, there wasn't any room left to pack anything to wear once I got there...)

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I'm not worried about checking in wines in a suitcase, I have done 24 bottles that way before.

How do you pack the wine?

I also have another question. There are very strict alcohol shipping laws in the US so how do these shops ship from state to state? We own a wine shop in Idaho and have used the following site to determine were we can ship http://wi.shipcompliant.com/Home.aspx AND according to this site it is illegal to ship from New York to Alabama.

I use strofoam inserts which are the exact width of a suitcase. See photo. I have never had to pay duty trips where i brought wine back which would be the last 5 at least. RR

What a great idea. I have a bunch of those at the shop.

quote:

Originally posted by jfraz:
How do you pack the wine?

I wrap it in clothing.

quote:

Originally posted by Robert Rainey:
I use strofoam inserts which are the exact width of a suitcase.

So, you pack these to take them over, and then fill them up on your return?

Yes empty out and full on the way back. RR