It would be nice if you made the same offer to Canadians.

Well, the guest brought some white Rutini swill for the aperitivo, so the panel of critics were unable to give a rating.

excuses, excuses.....

Well, that is good news Thanks for the info. And I'm guessing they won't be bothered with 4 bottles of Fernet Branca as long as it's delcared?

You'll probably not want to bother, as you can get Fernet in the USA very easily and it will probably be real Italian Fernet.

Haha, love that comment. Just came back from a visit to BA, Villa Gesell and Mar de Plata, and the average eastern-Argentinean continues to think only wines from Rutini, Lopez and Norton are worth drinking, due to generations-old prejudices. This is from the time not too long ago here in Mendoza when most wines were mass-produced slop, before the great sophistication that started 10 to 15 years ago by serious new entries to the market. It is still customary for a social occasion to showoff your alleged wisdom by taking a bottle from these 3 older wineries. It is like most of the people who use the ssshhh for the double "ll" or "y" are frozen in time when it comes to wine. As a result these matronly brands are over-priced and over-available east of the Cuyo. Far cheaper and better wines are available, but you have to search.

Note: Not that the "classic" 3 do not have some good wines, but much of what they push are not that great, especially those available domestically.

I'm the first one to buy not-famous more interesting wines. I bought an inexpensive non-filtered cab yesterday that we'll likely have with dinner tonight. I'm the same way with California wine - Unless I'm in a pinch, or need to get something specific, most everything I drink is small production deliciousness at non-Napa pricing, and typically in a non-Modern Napa style.

Not sure who you are hanging out with.... but I would be a little careful with such wide generalizations. It is true that Lopez has a very large market share in the Interior, but the new wine drinkers in their early 30ies are now demanding much more, and palates/tastes have been evolving very quickly. There is very little to no brand or label quality these days, most folks want to taste new things and will even switch wineries from vintage to vintage......

Its not all that simple....

The original stuff, whatever that may be, it a huge discussion. The Branca brothers like to think they are the real thing, and they are close enough, although they probably just made it a mass market product.

In any event, who cares....? Fernet is just as bad as the German stuff.... in case you didnt know, what the heck do you guys think the Jaeggermeister stuff is...... same dodo, different name, different place. Its all about getting hammered and still staying legal (alcohol content percentages).

Im afraid I cant do that... however, I can ship wines to Canada (to most provinces)... ^

Both of them are vile. I was just trying to do "good customer service" by sparing someone an unnecessary purchase!

Agreed they are both vile... now, lets get back to Wine please !!!!!!

To clarify, US custom duties is based on the total value in addition to the quantity. As long as you declare all purchases and wine (just list x bottles of wine) and the combined value, and if it's less than $800-1000 total they will waive the duties. However, knowing what Gaucho has to offer, you may be testing the limit.

Alos, some of the better wine shipping boxes now have cardboard inserts - not the plain, cheap, single panel dividers you find at your local grocery/liquor store, but ones with full bottle enclosure. And they are recyclable. You can check the box as a checked luggage by itself.

Im not familiar with the shipping boxes you mention, but can say that the only reliable wine shipping boxes are the ones that have a proper amount of styrofoam included in their design. There are many different ways to design a proper wine shipper, but in my trade experience, unless it has a relevant amount of styrofoam involved you will be rolling the dice.

The only exception to the above are some higher-end specialist luggage like hard-case wine carriers that will include plastic with a relevant metal(ic) frame... but for any sort of shipper box that has a cardboard outer housing or no housing at all, you must have Styrofoam as part of the solution, else I would have serious second thoughts.

Perhaps I misread/misunderstood you post and the boxes you are making reference to have some sort of other protective layer..... would love to hear more details as I like to know about good wine packaging solutions.

Thanks,
Gaucho100K

Im not an expert on the US Customs procedures manual, so I cant comment on how the fine print is actually spelt out. However, I do have a money back guarantee for any duty charged for all my US clients, so I have very solid empirical evidence on how the system works in real life.

To be more specific, I have at least one client per month that takes back 2 or 3 cases (24 to 36 bottles) of high end Argentine wine to the USA. These purchases are alwas very well north of US$1000, the average price of these cases are about US$1200 per case. So the value of these purchases is almost always north of US$2400.

I have been offering the money back guarantee for Duty and Taxes for over 5 years now, and have been called upon to make a refund in less than 2% of the instances.

Conclusion... Im not disputing that the rules/fine print may very well be whats been posted above, Im just saying that in 98% of the instances they are not enforced. Declare every single bottle you have with you and you will be fine, as noted, almost every time.