Fodor's Travel Talk Forums - Bringing wine back from italy

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Amen to Dean. The first post, about Brunellos.

Are there particularly good white wines from Italy that are not readily avilable in the US?

My favortie whites that are hard to find in the US are the whites of Campagnia, especially Ischia Bianco. They are even hard to find in Sorrento! If you day trip to Ischia you will be able to sample easily. In Friuli there are many tiny wineries that make Tocai Friuliano, Pinot Grigio etc. Some of these wineries ponly make a few hundred cases of each wine. So you will find things you can't find at home.

Thanks to Rex and others for the good points. I did take bubble wrap last time to pack breakables; also a roll up exercise mat makes for good padding. I will have to practice for the yolk in an egg effect!!!

If you are travelling in and out of London you can bring as much wine as you like, EEC is now a reality no more customs....

Do you take up precious luggage space carting your styrofoam around or have you discovered that it too can be purchase from the nicer wine stores in Italy? Dean, we purchase several Brunello's in Rome for $25.00 a bottle, I priced them in Dallas at almost $90. It is worth it!!

i have usually checked an empty and taken it over. We usually travel by car in italy and its no problem. I ahve not tried to buy a styrofoam shipper over there but I would guess its possible. I would just ahte to find out i was wrong.

Jenni, I just got back from Italy on Sat. and we brought back 4 bottles of wine into JFK. I was worried to about what was "legal" and what kind of taxes I would have to pay for anything over one liter, BUT, customs said nothing about it! I declared it too, but the customs person just stamped it and let me go! It was great! As for packing it, I checked it on as baggage. I wrapped each bottle in dirty laudry and it worked out fine. Just make sure it can't move! Have fun!

Jenni, Drink the Montepuliciano wines...this region has the best wine I have every had!

I will be in Rome, Naples and Florence in 3 weeks. Where are some good stores to buy wine? Bubble wrap for packing is a great idea.

thanks for all the advice guys!

So, where are some favorite liquor stores to buy Italian wine? Rome, Florence, Naples???

<<So, where are some favorite liquor stores to buy Italian wine? Rome, Florence, Naples???>> Okay, I'll start (don't everybody gasp at once). It seems funny to use the term "liquor store". I think of them as wine stores, though perhaps they also sell distilled spirits. The word is enoteca (plural enoteche) and if you do a search in this forum, you will find many posts about them. Here's some info - - and one name - - I have cited before. excerpted from http://www.fodors.com/forums/pgMessages.jsp?fid=2&tid=1340135 ========== ========================== Author: Rex ([email protected]) Date: 01/22/2002, 12:31 pm Message: The best ones (wine bars) I have visited (and sadly, I have failed to make note of the name of many of them) are not "bars" as we might ordinarily think of such, nor places where people go "to eat" - - though they DO sell wine by the glass, sometimes have (a few) tables - - and a variety of appropriate things to eat with wine, including panini (sandwiches) or actual piatti (courses). Some might be part formaggeria or salumeria, but most are first and foremost wine SHOPs. I guess you can go anytime in the afternoon or evening (doesn't seem like a "morning" kind of activity to me) - - whenever they are open. For what it's worth, I have sometimes gone at what we might call "happy hour" - - and from there, went on to a restaurant carrying a half-dozen bottles in a shopping bag. And while I might not try this in a "fancy" restaurant, I have also asked the waiter if we could have one of my purchased bottles with our meal, and I have NOT gotten funny looks (probably some nominal fee for "corkage" and the glasses was added to the bill - - don't remember, and I would have expected it). Proprietors seem to think it entirely normal that you come to spend an hour or more there to talk about wine, taste wines, and of course buy wines. They often have a dozen or two bottles already open to sell you a glass, or offer you just a taste. And they will always open and pour for you what you buy - - especially after you sample your way through some they already have open and point them in the direction of "more like this..." or "like this, but not so... whatever..." One of the few I can name for sure is Buccone on via di Ripetta (near Pzza del Popolo). Regrettably, I have forgotten the names of places I have visted in Venice, Verona and Tremezzo. A search on Yahoo for enoteche will produce 1000's of hits, and tons of lists in various towns; many of these sites will be in Italian only, but usually a picture or two, the name address, telephone number. And www.vinit.net has a listing for every province in Italy.

On a trip to Tuscany in 1999, we bought several Brunellos at the Enoteca Italiana (sp?) in Siena. It is located in the basement of the old fortress; part of it is a wine museum. Prices seemed to be about half of what they'd be here.

FYI, the 1997 Brunello di Montalcinos are fantastic. Called some of the best production ever and getting rave reviews from the experts. Buy the best you can afford. I was just in Montalcino on Sunday and bought some 1997 Casanova di Neri Tenuta Nouva.

Topping, for Pat/cyclone...

A note on Brunello vintages-- while 1997 is incredible, we are in the midst of the greatest run of quality vintages in Brunello in recent times. 1995 is an outstanding vintage with the riservas being available now. And judging from the Rossi di Montalcino that I have tied, 1999 will have great wines and 2000 may be better still. I would seek out a 1995 from a great producer such as Pertimali, Argiano or Constanti over a 1997 from a lesser producer such as Monte Antico, Banfi, Frescobaldi. While the latter three wines are going to be good, they are more mass produced and have less individuality then the first three producers. WHile vintage is always a major factor into a wine, who grew the grapes andwho made the wine are usually more important.

I don't usually read or even subscribe to wine-related magazines, so where would one go to read up on what years of what vineyards should be bought and held...like the 1999 and 2000 you mentioned?

Dean's right. I brought back 12 bottles of 1995 reserve Brunellos (especially the Brunello Montalcinos). They were quite affordable and I had a chuckle upon my return home. While going through my mail, my local wine store had an advert and was raving about the 1997s reserves for more money than I paid for the 1995s.