I will be visiting Montalcino at the end of February 2004 and am
interested in tasting and buying a few bottles of '99 Brunello.
However, I am not sure if the price in Montalcino will be much lower
than here in the US. (They cost at least $60 I think) If you have been
to Montalcino in the past, would you advise me if it is naive of me to
expect any bargain?

On 1/25/04 4:27 PM, in article
, "James Cloud"
> wrote:

> I will be visiting Montalcino at the end of February 2004 and am
> interested in tasting and buying a few bottles of '99 Brunello.
> However, I am not sure if the price in Montalcino will be much lower
> than here in the US. (They cost at least $60 I think) If you have been
> to Montalcino in the past, would you advise me if it is naive of me to
> expect any bargain?

I do not know about Italian wineries, but the ones in the US tend to charge
more than you could get their wine in a wine shop or liquor store locally.
I got a bottle of Trefethen at the winery for about $35 (this was in '94) -
and when I got home, I found I could get the same bottle for about $30.

Since there won't be taxes and import duties, you might make out OK, but
mind the restrictions on the amount you are allowed to take back to the US.
If you want a case or two - be sure to declare it and write them a check for
the duty on your way back (no big deal, just you will have to factor that
in).

Two years ago, a number of Brunellos were avaialble at the store
across from the fort for $20-25. That was about €25-30.

There is not much of a vineyard tour setup there. The wineries in
general are small, and just did not have sampling rooms and were not
open.

We stayed a week and had a wonderful time.


On 25 Jan 2004 13:27:48 -0800, (James Cloud)
wrote:

>I will be visiting Montalcino at the end of February 2004 and am
>interested in tasting and buying a few bottles of '99 Brunello.
>However, I am not sure if the price in Montalcino will be much lower
>than here in the US. (They cost at least $60 I think) If you have been
>to Montalcino in the past, would you advise me if it is naive of me to
>expect any bargain?

Bromo > wrote in message >...
> On 1/25/04 4:27 PM, in article
> , "James Cloud"
> > wrote:
>
> > I will be visiting Montalcino at the end of February 2004 and am
> > interested in tasting and buying a few bottles of '99 Brunello.
> > However, I am not sure if the price in Montalcino will be much lower
> > than here in the US. (They cost at least $60 I think) If you have been
> > to Montalcino in the past, would you advise me if it is naive of me to
> > expect any bargain?
>
> I do not know about Italian wineries, but the ones in the US tend to charge
> more than you could get their wine in a wine shop or liquor store locally.
> I got a bottle of Trefethen at the winery for about $35 (this was in '94) -
> and when I got home, I found I could get the same bottle for about $30.
>
> Since there won't be taxes and import duties, you might make out OK, but
> mind the restrictions on the amount you are allowed to take back to the US.
> If you want a case or two - be sure to declare it and write them a check for
> the duty on your way back (no big deal, just you will have to factor that
> in).


The problem will likely be the strength of the Euro; due to its
strength the '98 Brunello's are the same price as the '97s in Canada.
And not as good of course.
That's not anything you can avoid; having said that I think the prices
will be fairly lower, if you don't end up declaring it. Once you
declare I doubt you'd save much though when I was in Montalcino in
2000, they had old vintages of Brunello for fairly reasonable
prices....or hard to find producers.