Traveling to Italy and France - Tips?

Others may have different opinions, but it sounds as though you are looking for something you're not going to find. Your interest in "buying bottles" and "not testing" seems to mean you're looking for big names at discount prices. You won't be very successful, since big name inevitably means inflated price. Tasting is what leads to high value at low cost. Finding something that appeals to your palate that hasn't yet made the "big time" is where the enjoyment of wine and visits to wine regions becomes fun.

The places you name aren't major wine country, so you really will be in metro areas rather than among the vineyards. If you seek good wines at good prices, then you might consider getting further S. in Italy, into Tuscany and the regions that include Barolo, Barberesco and Montepulciano. In France, go N. of Nice into the area along the Rhone, N. and S. of Lyon to visit Burgundy and Beaujolais, or head W. of Nice to the Cote de Roussilon (sp?).

You don't necessarily have to visit vineyards which can be a spotty experience at best, particularly in Burgundy. Most of the villages have merchants that offer regional wines at good prices--basically you are eliminated shipping costs and middle-man brokers in the pricing. One particular stop of note (but which doesn't really offer "low" prices) is the market in the center of Beaune. You'll get to taste a wide variety of quality Burgundies.

You must taste, otherwise you're wasting your money--and that seems to be your priority.

Ed Rasimus Fighter Pilot (ret) ***"When Thunder Rolled: *** An F-105 Pilot Over N. Vietnam" *** from Smithsonian Books ISBN: 1588341038

Take a drive a few miles north of Montpelier and visit Montpeyroux and Saint Saturnin. You'll find good wines at good prices. Also, there is good stuff around Bezier, Sete, etc. John

From the original message, it didn't seem that he was going to be anywhere near the Rhone or Burgundy. John

Rob, I think that most understood what your question was, but the answer is not easy. You want to buy wine without tasting, something easily done in a supermarket, charcouterie or wine retailer . But John's excellent advice about driving northwest to L'Herault from Montpellier will put you in the midst of vineyards and small, family owned wineries. I don't know what their reaction would be to someone who showed up at their door and just wanted to buy wine. They'd probably do it, but with a puzzled look on their face as most every visitor would first want to taste what they're buying. The one exception to that would be the local co-op, but they don't offer the best QPR, I'm afraid. For the record, St. Martin-De-Londres is also a good stop for quality wineries in the region.

Compared to prices in Sweden, I'd expect all wines to be significantly cheaper in both Italy and France, but perhaps that's not the case. The lowest prices can be found at the winery, but again it's not common for visitors to show up at these small places to buy without tasting first. The other concern is that, without knowing your taste in wine, how is anyone supposed to guess what you'd like? I can tell you of my favorite wines from the region, but we might have radically different tastes.

HTH Mark Lipton

I have found that wine on the shelf in France to be no bargin. I have also not seen much that is not available in USA.

Italy is different, I find many wines to be about 60% US price, and I find entire regions that I have never seen in US.

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