My daughter will be visiting Italy for several weeks in April, and will be spending a few days to a week in Tuscany. She was interested to see if there are any wineries that offer a nice visit/tour experience. We know the wines, but need insight on places that are interesting and accommodating to visits. Also, she will likely purchase more than she can carry in her luggage, and was wondering what regulations are in place which may limit her ability to ship wine to the US (specifically to Boston)
most of what I’ve seen says to prepare her for the fact that she can typically get the same stuff cheaper stateside vs at the wineries (assuming it is a wine available stateside). especially once shipping cost is factored in. There are a couple threads worth looking at in the travel forum I think, I’m using them to start planning my own trip.
What city specifically is she staying in? It makes a big difference as far as cost and ease of transport to different wineries goes. e.g.: Florence is over an hour drive from Montalcino (with no great public transport option) but close to the Chianti regions, but Siena is fairly close to Montalcino.
most of what I’ve seen says to prepare her for the fact that she can typically get the same stuff cheaper stateside vs at the wineries (assuming it is a wine available stateside). especially once shipping cost is factored in. There are a couple threads worth looking at in the travel forum I think, I’m using them to start planning my own trip.
Don’t know about this. My experience, although over 10 years ago, was the exact same wine was half or a third the price in the states. Depends on the wine and shipping costs. High end wines with decent shipping would be much cheaper in Italy.
One of my favorite places is Isole e Olena, but you need a car to get there.
I disagree completely. Prices for the “right” wines are way better in Tuscany and at the winery they’re usually the best. At least that was true for Biondi Santi, Poggio di Sotto, and a few others I visited. Mailboxes ect. Shipped the wines for about $125/case. Most wineries will help set this up if you want them to. There were a few wineries that were able to get the price down to as low as $80/case.
I don’t know how you are defining the “right wines,” nor what prices you are paying from retailers - but I can tell you with 100% certainty that during Thanksgiving week of 2017 prices for wine from the following wineries were less expensive in NJ for me than from the winery.
Fontodi
La Massa
Ciacci Piccolomini
Antinori
Valdicava
The problem you’re having with those wines you listed is that they’re all aimed at the American buyer. I have some of them in my cellar…they’re great wines. However, they all aim themselves directly at the American market; so their prices are going to reflect that at the wineries and here in the US. Smaller producers, or wineries that are more focused on Italy than America are going to have lower prices. For me those are the “right” wines to focus on…and you can get one hell of a break on the price…if you buy them at the winery door.
These are the only two in Montalcino that I went to. I had similar savings with another winery in Chianti and several in Piedmont.
Poggio di Sotto $134/bottle and the most recent offer from Crush Wine co. was $189 and the best on WS is $210.
Biondi Santi cost me $92/bottle and the most recent WS low price on that wine was $131.
I would actually be really happy to be wrong about that price being better in the US thing, as I’d love to bring some back too. I gotta say though, I think if I was thinking of a brunello pushed in the US I’d probably think of Biondi Santi as one of the first! haha. but if we can get a good deal on Biondi there, I’ll take it (I do have to point out though, that I have seen several vintages between '07 and 11 on JJbuckley within the last month for sub-$95)
Last time we visited Montalcino, we put together mixed case and shipped it home for a fairly reasonable price (under $100 I think), plus we brought a case on the plane in the Wine Check, plus I squirreled a few more away in my suitcases.
There were definitely some relative bargains, plus there were some producers and some bottlings that you don’t see in the USA. And of course it was just fun buying them there, and my wife was happy with us getting them, something that wasn’t necessarily the case when we got home right after an expensive vacation and I log onto the computer and start ordering wine, if you get my meaning.
Any help you can give on:
a) what part of the region she’ll be based in
b) what style & price point would appeal to her (or have you enlisted your own daughter as a wine mule… )
Plenty of options, but with the option to tailor it.
Ignoring anything else, if the experience runs high on the list, then I’d lean towards Montepulciano for the historic cellars and ease with which to visit / taste. The huge old barrels usually make a strong impression and it’s a place of interest beyond just the wine. Even if not based here, if in decent range, it’s pretty easy to get value out of a day trip. In terms of pricing I’d put VNdiM at low-med in a regional context and style at the more structured/austere end.
If she’s based in Lucca or Pisa, I’d probably look elsewhere though, as a day trip would be quite a long one. Even Florence would have me looking at Chianti first. Siena however is in easy range.
Antinori has a Napa grand winery like experience but it is very good. Different price levels for different tours, but if you don’t mind paying the top level is great and you can try just about everything (some you might need to ask for).
Felsina and Fontodi are great in Chianti. Lots of choices in BdM.
My favorite tasting in Tuscany was at Felsina. The tour was informative and the cellars were fascinating to see. The tasting was first-rate. Tasted their full range of wines, all of which are really good and fairly priced. The woman who led the tasting was very knowledgeable and happy to answer all my questions.
+1 for Felsina. Nice to see it getting the props it deserves. Great tour, nice location, fun tasting as well. Interesting to see that they bottle a Chardonnay. And it was delicious!
It really depends where she wants to go, there are plenty of wineries that can do visits. Just email the ones you like and you can usually get an appointment. You can ship the wines you buy using Mailboxes etc… Just google the different branches around Tuscany , they are set up to professionally ship bottles to the US
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