Jim Foster

Try La Pievina, a simple trattoria on the very pretty road between Asciano and Siena, for an experience that's like having a celebratory dinner at an Italian home. When you come in, the only decision you're asked to make is "carne, pesce o vegetariano?" Once you decide, the women in the kitchen, who drink wine as they cook and get louder as the night progresses, get to work. Over the course of the next several hours, this is what you get: 10 antipasti courses; five primi, usually pasta; and three main courses. Then they drop a selection of about six desserts on your table. And finally, they bring a variety of grappas and vin santos, which you can sample at your leisure. The courses are smallish, so don't let the big numbers intimidate you. Also, they're spaced out over the entire eventing. Also in included in the very reasonable price is wine, water and coffee. Don't expect anything fancy, because it's not. What you get, though, is a lot of fun for the money.

We rent the same house each fall at Il Borro, a little village northwest of Arezzo, a mile or so south of the Seven Bridges road. Thanks for all the tips, folks. Incidentally, I've discovered at least three web sites that sell wine shippers: uline.com, dial-a-box.com, and mrboxonline.com. Each one has a slightly different structure, but all look good. We're probably going to ship two 12-bottle boxes over empty, and each should be under 50 lbs. coming back. Jim

My wife and I visit Italy each fall, and we like to bring home as many bottles of wine as we can cram in our carry-on luggage. Therein lies our problem. We would like to bring home more by finding a bottle-safe way to fly it as checked baggage, but we don't want to spend $300 on expensive "wine luggage" that we would use once a year. A friend suggests flattening a standard corrugated wine shipping box, then reassembling it for the trip home. That sounds "iffy" to me, so we're looking for some creative ideas. Suggestions?