Hello All - When my wife and I travel we usually just pack some bottles of wine into our suitcases to enjoy at home. This trip, however, we will be spending a considerable amount of time in Pienza which is located smack in the middle of Montalcino and Montepulciano. As such, we are likely to encounter a fair number of tasty wines. We will be flying back into New Jersey, but live in Pennsylvania. We have addresses in New Jersey that we can also ship to.

Have any of you had success shipping cases back to the States? I know there are some customs issues that may arise, so any advice is appreciated.

Thank you

MBE at Via della Vetreria, 41, 50063 Figline Valdarno is one of the biggest if not the biggest shippers of Tuscan wine to the US and elsewhere. First of all they have very strict packing requirements to avoid bottle damage but also they have huge experience with the diverse requirements of each State. It is quite possible that many wineries you visit already use them but if not speak with them and I am sure you will find a satisfactory solution.

Italy is one of the easiest country to ship cases of wines from. Many wineries have arrangements with carriers familiar with idiosyncrasies of different state regulations to ship wines directly from the winery to your destination. I have also done it myself using Italy's UPS shop partner, but I discovered it was more expensive and more hassle than had it done by the wineries.

When you visit wineries or tasting rooms, ask if they can ship wines to a particular state for you.

France, for example, has not been easy. Many wineries told us they don't ship to the U.S. because of the hassles.

To get an idea of just how different are state regulations, google search "shipping wine to Pennsylvania," etc. It looks like both N.J. and Pennsylvania allow direct wine shipments under different conditions. N.J. seems to allow this only from the small wineries.

The local wineries in Xhianti tefion used Mail Boxes Etc to ship wines to US. Shipping was equal to cost of wine. No English was spoken but wine arrived fine and in short time.