When I bring home wine/liquor, I always am honest on my Customs declaration. I've never been asked to pay a duty. As for state laws, .

For wine searching on internet, this is a very good site

http://www.wine-searcher.com/

As to savings,

Wines purchased at the winery in Tuscany are usually less than 50% USA shelf price.

Wines purchased at an Enoteca in Bologna and Montalcino are usually 50-70% of USA shelf price.

It's often true that you can get good Italian wines cheaper there than here in the states. Of course Italians tend not to send us the REALLY GOOD stuff.

This April when I was in search of Barolos not available here in the States. To my surprise many of the offerings in Enotecas here much more expensive or of lesser quality than what's available from my local wine merchant.

My son and I are talking about his taking a possible vacation to Australia next summer- he was there on a school trip at age 15 and loved it. I jokingly told him he'd have to bring me back a couple of bottles of wine and he told me they wouldn't let him. He'd be 18- apparently old enough to buy wine in Australia but not here in the US.

What happens under those circumstances if an 18-year old traveling alone is honest and declares 2 bottles of wine when entering the US? I know that the limit is 1 bottle for an adult over 21, although I've never had to pay duty on a second one. There appears to be no exemption at all for an 18-year old. Does that mean he'd have to pay duty or that they'd confiscate them since he was under age?

(Last time he went to Oz all I got was a crummy T-shirt.)

Regina: Unfortunately, if found, US Customs would confiscate the wine. They have to uphold the state laws too. He could ship you wine, but we too were quoted very high shipping charges from the wine merchants. He could take it directly to the shipper and save, but that might be more of a hassle than it's worth.

The Wine Country 2301 Redondo Ave Signal Hill, CA 90806 562-597-8303 or 800- 505-5564 recently had the following NZ wines for sale:

type name price
Pinot Noir
99Elstree 26.99
00 Zenith 10.99
Chardonnay
98 Goldwater 15.99
99 Isabel 15.99
Pinot Blanc
01 Kerner Estate 13.99
Sauvignon Blanc
01 Forrest Estate 12.99
00 Goldwater 16.99
99 Lake Chalice 10.99
01 Mount Riley 9.99
01 Nautilus 14.99
01 Omaka Springs 12.99
00 Sherwood Estate 9.99
01 Villa Maria PrBin 10.99
01 Charles Wiffen 11.99
Rose
01 Lawson's Pinot Noir Rose
12.99
They carry wines from around the world

We've never had any wine confiscated. The customs agents we've encountered have counted heads, counted wine, and as long as we weren't over the number of bottles per person we have been okay.

I travel to Italy several times a year, and take with me a special wine box (hard shell) that holds 12 bottles in special designed styrofoam groves. I've checked this every trip, and even flying 4 days after 911 from FCO had no difficulty. Once in a while I will open the case to show someone what's inside. Many of the better wine stores carry such carriers - and if you plan on making more then one trip the investment is worth it. I've never once been asked at customs the details.... I always list 'wine' on my customs form with a total cost (I'm always well under the $400) limit...and never once had a problem. Suggestion - do it right, do it easy.... Enjoy your trip!

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Askworldtraveler, EXP,4 million AA miles+++Hilton Gold (thanks to EXP)