[Idyllchat] (Idyllchat) flying with wine

[Jerry Clancy]

Julie,

The short answer is that shipping it back insured can be very 
expensive and I never thought worth it when you looked then at the 
total cost of the wine plus shipping except for the very best wines.

When we went to Tuscany as a group of four (returned as three, 
leaving a daughter to tour more of Italy), I brought along an empty, 
mid-sized piece of luggage specifically for bringing back a case of 
wine. Back in the '70s and '80s, when I had frequent business trips 
to Italy and, particularly, France, I would do this routinely after 
just heading down the wine aisles at a local Parisian MonoPrix 
(supermarket) and grabbing whatever struck my fancy (typically good 
Bordeaux). Yes, there are duty-free limits but the duty on wine, 
particularly the high-end wine I was interested in (Brunello or 
Borolo), is a pittance compared to the value of the wine itself, so 
don't sweat the duty. And with three of us returning and declaring 
everything as a group, the customs folks just waived it on through. 
Being a group also helped with the baggage allotment.

For price comparison, we brought back 1995 Brunello (a good year), 
purchased on the Le Chiuse Estate where we stayed, for about $25 a 
bottle. At the time (2001) a similar bottle here in the States was 
retailing for about $55-$60. Now they can be much more, rangin to 
$100, though lesser quality Brunello's can be had at some discount 
stores at sub-$50 rates.

Brunello's are made from 100% Sangiovese grapes and so have the 
advantage that they continue to improve with age. We still have one 
of those bottles left in the rack. Weddings and other happy occasions 
were cause to consume the rest.

I would not do this for Chianti except for the best Riserva's but for 
Brunello it's a good deal. And, yes, bubble-wrap it. Never had a 
broken bottle. I also liked Christine's idea about zip-locking 
everything but I would never have the patience to do it. I think it's 
a guy thing. However, bringing along a dedicated piece of luggage for 
this purpose avoids the need to do this.

As for the risk of my luggage spoiling that of others, well, all I 
can say is share a plane with me at your own risk.

Jerry


At 12:01 PM 4/9/2007, Julie Phillips wrote:

>What about buying a case of something like wine or olive oil and 
>shipping it back to the U.S. -- is that crazy expensive?
>Julie P. in Athens, GA