Shipping wine from Italy to Massachusetts
 

Hi there, I'm going to Italy in September 2016 and wondering if anyone knows the most recent updates with being able to ship wine from Italy to Massachusetts? I'm going to be traveling for a month and want to try and avoid having to carry wine in my luggage. Has anyone shipped recently to MA?

It is now legal to direct ship wine from wineries to Massachusetts . . . but AFAIK only if the vineyard/winery is registered in MA.

I have no experience re Italy -- but belong to the wine club of a small local winery here in northern CA and they were saying they still couldn't ship to MA unless they pay to register there.

Agree with janisj. While I do not know of the regulations, my daughter buys wine in the states and has it shipped to us in NH.

You might want to check shipping costs in advance. It's very expensive to ship to the US.

Trying to do it yourself can be a complicated and risky hassle. Ask if the seller has ever shipped to the US before, and if they will ship for you. It won't be cheap, and you should be certain it will be shipped when the weather won't be too hot.
If the seller can't do it, it's sad, but you'd be wise to stick to what you can carry in your luggage.

A winery in Chianti region shipped a case of tneir wine to us via the shipper Mail Boxes etc. Shipping costs equaled the cost of the wine. Paying for an extea piece of luggage on your flight home would be cheaper.

Just drink it and enjoy it while you're there. There are unlimited choices of good Italian wine to buy in the USA and shipping is always a huge PITA.

There are certainly not unlimited choices of good Italian wine to buy in the USA. What's available in the US from Italy is actually quite limited if you have ever traveled in Italy and taken an interest in its wines.

Can't help with info about Massachusetts, and obviously up to you if you want to ship or bring any home. if you are satisfied with what's available there or or in neighboring states, great. But don't think there is no reason to bring home wine from Italy if you are a wine enthusiast.

HappyTrvlr: >>A winery in Chianti region shipped a case of tneir wine to us via the shipper Mail Boxes etc<<

Do you live in Mass.? The laws are different in many states . . .

Thanks everyone! I'd be curious HappyTrvlr if you live in MA? I've love to be able to ship a few bottles or possibly a case to my address in MA. I'm thinking maybe I will call a couple places I'm planning to visit as suggested and ask if they can ship to the states.

Do you have friends/relatives in other states who you could have the wine shipped to? Many other states do allow direct shipping of wine.

One of the biggest shippers of wine in the Chianti region is the MBE at Figline Valdarno - http://www.mbe.it/centri-mbe/toscana/firenze/itmbe0537 They can ship anywhere in the States as well as elsewhere and can handle all the documentation etc.

With a lot of wineries in that region they come directly to pick it up and will package it themselves in their specially protected boxes with polistyrene sleeves.

If you email them I am sure they will be able to reply in English. Obviously the bigger your order the lower the eventual shipping cost per bottle.

Suggest you ask at the winery if they have a distributor in Mass. Is so, you can ask your local wine store to order for you. Less expensive for you and you make a local business very happy. I work at a local fine wine store here in Ohio and have always been able to order here at a far less cost than the cost of the wine plus shipping from Europe.

On the other hand, if you cannot resist a few bottles and wish to bring them home in your suitcase, individual wine air packs are sold which usually protects your wine while in transit. Be sure and declare it at customs.

Bringing quantities of wine to the US from Europe ranges from impractical to incredibly difficult and expensive. Inquire if any of the wineries you are interested in have a US importer and/or distributor, and if they do, find a US retailer.

How much wine are you looking to ship? If you are talking "normal" quantities of a case or two, I would skip the shipping and simply check it as luggage. A fully loaded wine shipper (12 bottles) will come in just under 50 pounds for the heaviest bottles (champagne), so you can just pay the airline the $100 or whatever and bring the wine with you. I can't imagine shipping it would be cheaper.

This also may allow you to avoid paying any import duty - no guarantees, but I have never been charged when bringing through a few cases of wine. Theoretically, you owe duty, but the agents have real work to do. I had one guy start calculating it when I brought back 3 cases of wine from Australia, but he eventually just gave up and waived me through.

Ideally, you will buy a shipper box there. You can then either simply check the box or put it in some sort of carrier. We have several of the below, and like them as the wheels and handles make the boxes much easier to deal with. You can also bring a collapsible luggage cart, though I find the Wine Check better. I have checked wine on, at a minimum, Air France, BA, Delta, KLM, Alaska Airlines, Virgin Australia, and Swiss. It may be worth double-checking with your airline to find out their requirements, but I'd think pretty much any airline save maybe the budget carriers would accept a well-packed box as luggage.

Here is the Wine Check: http://www.thewinecheck.com

I know you said you would travel for a month and want to avoid carrying in your luggage, but I would just recommend doing all your wine purchases at the end of your trip. Shipping a bottle or two here or there will be too much trouble and too much expense.

This is all super helpful, thanks so much everyone!

No, I didn't ship to MA but wanted to share the high cost of shipping wine vs packing it yourself.

I would check with your MA state government and find out for certain.

No one inside the U.S. Or out can legally ship wine to an individual in Utah, and I know there are other states that have similar laws. The Chianti MBE might ship wine to an INDIVIDUAL in Utah, but the case would be confiscated at the airport and poof, there goes your expensive wine!

Just saying, check with your state government, or send it to a friend in another state, and be sure you can drive it in to MA afterwards.

My wife and I shipped wine from the cinque terre and I believe we paid 100 USD to ship twelve bottles of wine. Seemed like a reputable wine shop, but I noticed they declared our contents as "marble vases" :)

I was presently surprised that we could pick up wine at the Pisa airport once we went through security. Brought home six six bottles of Cinque Terre wine (they only had one type of CT wine), since we didn't have much carry on luggage. They sealed the bottles in plastic with documentation and we had no problem carrying them through Frankfurt airport and our airport back home.