Curious if anyone has ever done this??
Bought a bottle of wine in Italy directly from the estate - lets just say, an Il Poggione Brunello. Carried it home.
Bought the identical wine at a local retailer.
Drank them side by side.
If so, any observed differences? And also, from a pure angle of sentimentality, was the bottle purchase from the estate more special to you?
Be careful or we’ll descend into another discussion of travel shock. ![[basic-smile.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/8/83717c74df9b0ce202453063bc4f11baf0ee6b8a.gif "smile"){kind=small}
I’ve tasted pristine [Gray Market] and very badly heat damaged [Authorized Importer] wines side by side.
It really is shocking for everyone at the table when you remove the brown paper bags from the bottles and show them that the only difference is the importer’s label on the backside.
I have to admit, I really hadn’t thought of that. I’m surprised no one has done this. I am going to do it next month and test it first hand.
I’ve lived overseas for 11 years. When I came back from Italy, I brought back 1200 bottles from all over Europe bought mainly ex-cellars. The wine was air freighted back. Every time I’ve compared my bottles with others purchased in the States, the ex-cellars bottles were in better shape. They were half or even a third the price as well. I was fortunate to have good exchange rates.
When we sold our place in France we brought home 62 cases of French and Italian wine. Sent back in refrigerated containers. Still drinking some of them and they are pristine.
I do have some overlap in wine … Mostly Rhone’s … But I find no difference in the wines I bought there versus here.
Good example … 2001 Pegau. Bought at the domaine and thru retail imported by Dan Kravitz at Hand Picked Selections. No difference. BUT, Dan is not Gray Market. Might be a different story through other avenues.
If you import wine, it’s what you do. Even if they give you some to take, you always want some wine shipped so you can see what, if anything, happens. Unless your goal is to write tasting notes, tasting at the site only gives you a partial idea of the wine. Most people aren’t going to taste at the site so you need to discount the surroundings, etc. Plus, you’ve often tasted dozens of wines already so you want to try it again, back home.
Most wines aren’t going to be that different. If they are, you should beware. Some people are unscrupulous enough to ship something other than what you’ve tasted.
If just visiting as a tourist, then I would usually buy something I couldn’t get back home, so it’s hard to say.
How on earth would you know grey market wines are pristine? By definition grey market wines are of somewhat unknown provenance depending on the time of release and delivery/opening by the buyer.
Boy, I hate to keep being the Debbie Downer on these threads, but some of you guys are posting stuff which would make an ambitious young BATF/TTB investigator [or DOJ prosecutor] very, very, very curious as to whether you moved all of that juice across the border with [or without] proper paperwork.
Absolutely. DOJ has so much time on its hands they must have rooms full of people looking for prosecutions for a few bucks in unpaid duties.
Boy, I hate to keep being the Debbie Downer on these threads, but some of you guys are posting stuff which would make an ambitious young BATF/TTB investigator [or DOJ prosecutor] very, very, very curious as to whether you moved all of that juice across the border with [or without] proper paperwork.
I was stationed in Europe and when I came back, the wine was part of my household goods. Because of that, and since I didn’t have any wine in more than a case amount, the customs guy allowed me to bring in the wine. I did have to hire a customs broker and had to pay federal and state taxes. It ended up costing me about $2/bottle in fees and taxes.
yeah that and IRS officials, maybe some state congressman, FBI, and the black helicopters in the sky.
Give it a rest
An excellent argument for being a “locavinovore.”
Stick to worrying about fiat electrons.
Seems you always look for the dark side!
Mine was brought thru normal channels and went thru customs in Philly.
Customs is not the BATF/TTB.
Customs is in the Department of Homeland Security.
TTB is in the Treasury Department.
They are two entirely different government entities.
Nor is Customs the same thing as your state “ABC” [Alcohol Beverage Commission, or whatever it’s called in your state].
You guys are just ludicrously naïve if you think that the government can’t destroy you if [and/or when] it decides to set its sights on you.
And you better make that “governments” - plural - when you factor in all of the state entities and the local entities which could go after you.
I would not be talking about this stuff on a “Real Names” bulletin board if I were you.
I’d keep my big mouth shut about it.