Lug wine home from Italy or ship?
 

Anyone know what the approximate cost would be to ship a case of wine back to the U.S. from Italy. I know that Colorado allows such imports and charges a small excise tax but curious about shipping charges and duties. I seemed to recall that I inquired about shipping some wine the last time we were in Italy and the cost was so high as to negate the savings of buying it over there. I can't recall the details however. We ended up handcarrying two bottles of Brunello. Would like to buy more than two bottles this time but not crazy about lugging it around for days.

Hi,

I've been considering the same problem.

I'm planning on purchasing some Brunello at the duty-free shop on the way home and paying the duty (about $3/bottle) on arrival.

Shipping is very chancey. You don't know how well your case of wine will be treated on the boat from Europe.

Another problem with shipping, deals with state laws. You say that there is no problem with Colorado. But here in Texas the CEO of my company had some wine shipped home when he was on vacation and ran into problems. The amount shipped was greater than Texas law allows. So he had to pay someone with the correct license to go out to the airport and get his wine.

We shipped 6 bottles of wine from Florence about a 2 weeks ago and the cost was $80. It took around a week to get here and was shipped through Mail Boxes Etc. We had asked at a couple of wine shops and the shipping amounts were consistent everywhere we checked.

Please inquire with a local dealer. He/she will probably be able to supply similar wine!

I say lug it home.. I just got back and brought 16 bottles back with me. I had a cardboard wine box with a handle that held 4 bottles and carried it on the plane. I purchased 4 very thick styrofoam wine shipping cartons and bought a roll of shipping tape and secured them tightly. Best wines in the middle to play it as safe as possible.
Checked it on the airplane as excess baggage with no fee's. Total cost 4.90 euro plus the wine. It was not so great carrying it but we had a car up until Vencice and had water taxi's there..I save hundreds on the wine I brought back and most bottles come with a nice story of where it was purchased..

US Customs rarely requires that you pay any duty on wine that you carry with you.

? for Angela- do recall the name of the wine shop you used in Florence, did they ship for you or did you purchase the wine and then take to M.E. and ship youself?
I will be in Florence in Sept. and this info. would help me so much
Thanks
Fluffy