We were thinking more along the lines of a 12-pack case each.

Coincidentally, the DXB customs folks replied to my email this morning (which I had sent to them before I posted here). They said that anything above the duty-free limit would be charged a duty of 50%. (Since even near-top-quality wines here are sub-$30 and many sub-$20, that's still exceptionally reasonable.) I replied to confirm that this applied to personal import limits for personal consumption and a reply was then sent to me in the affirmative.

I believe the fine folks here much more than some outsourced email contact center, but I thought it was interesting that their reply so starkly contradicted what their phone representative said and what has been posted here.

Are you trying to say something here?