Help USAF family w/a Montepulciano Suggestion!

Posted by Tina (Range di Polcenigo, V/F, Italy) on 02/22/09 01:02 PM

We live in Italy (USAF) and have to leave soon :-(

We want to stay in Montepulciano for just two nights. I've scoured tripadvisor.com and have some leads, but want to know if anyone has a diamond in the rough they would like to share in this area. Our main objective is large wine purchase from Montepulciano and Montalcino for shipment to our new home in the US :-)

FYI - We will have our very well behaved, yet, still 4 y.o. son in tow for this trip.

There could be a nice bottle of wine (descreetly) delivered to your door step for a good suggestion!

Saluti! T

Posted by Ken

Vernon, Canada

02/23/09 12:33 AM

32220 posts

Tina,

I'm not clear on your question. Are you looking for a place to stay (given your reference to TripAdvisor) OR a place to buy a large quantity of Wine???

Ciao!

Posted by Tina OP

Range di Polcenigo, V/F, Italy

02/23/09 04:50 AM

16 posts

A suggestion for a place to stay. Wine should be easy to find, but if you have suggestions on that I will gladly take the advice. Ciao!!

Posted by Henry

Wichita

02/23/09 10:33 AM

831 posts

Tina,
Kill two birds with one stone. Stay at an agriturismo. I like La Crociona http://www.lacrociona.com/ about 3 km outside of Montalcino.

Posted by Frank

WPB, FL & Firenze

02/23/09 04:01 PM

3112 posts

If you want to stay right in Montepulciano, Mueble il Riccio is very nice and has at least one triple room. I stayed there about a year ago and really liked it. The hotel is just a few minutes walk from Contucci Cantina, a local winery with very reasonable prices for good Vino Nobile (although shipping the wine from Italy to USA is expensive - costly from any winery).

Posted by Patrick, Arkansas

Jonesboro, Arkansas, USA

02/24/09 05:14 AM

606 posts

"Our main objective is large wine purchase from Montepulciano and Montalcino for shipment to our new home in the US"

New home, 4 y.o. son, getting to spend time in Montepulciano, able to ship large quantity of wine to the US. Sounds like life is very good for you! Congrats!

Does your USAF connection mean free or reduced cost shipping of all that wine to the US? If so, this may make sense. Otherwise, the cost of this shipping may be prohibitive.

Most larger US cities have wine stores that stock the same Italian wines at a much better price than what you'd pay to buy them in Italy and pay to ship them yourself.

Sure, buy a few bottles and bring them home in your checked luggage for sentimental reasons, but for the large quantities, you may want to wait and buy them once you get home.

Posted by Tina OP

Range di Polcenigo, V/F, Italy

02/24/09 05:31 AM

16 posts

Ciao Patrick!

Yes, there are some rules that allow us to ship up to 200 bottles (can be wine/olive oil and vinegar) to our new duty location (as long as our household goods do not exceed our weight limit, which they are not even close).

I was clueless about Italian wines before our tour here and know a lot more now, so want to bring back specific kinds from different regions, but will keep in mind your suggestion about more mainstream varitires being easy to find and possibly cheaper at specialty stores.

Thanks for everyone's help. I have places to investigate now and found a couple more on line.

Grazie mille - Tina