Drinking Down Under

Q Are there wine country tours to Australia?

Sarah Matthews

Frederick

A Several tour operators offer wine itineraries in Australia, although they tend to be quite pricey. Avalon Wine Tours (888-499-WINE, www.avalon-tours.com), for example, does a couple of tours each year. A seven-night escorted trip in October to Hunter Valley near Sydney and the wine country of South Australia near Adelaide is $3,975 per person double, plus airfare.

If you're willing to put some time into organizing the trip yourself and don't mind traveling independently, you can save money. About half of the nation's wine is produced within striking distance of Adelaide in the Barossa Valley and McLaren Vale. Other vineyard-rich areas include Hunter Valley, about two hours from Sydney, and Tasmania, which has about a dozen wineries along a wine route.

The Australian Tourist Commission (800-333-4305, www.australia.com) publishes suggested wine country itineraries. Another good resource is the book "The Wine Regions of Australia: The Complete Guide With Over 60 Maps," by John Beeston. Organized day tours often depart from local hotels. For example, Adelaide Sightseeing (011-61-8-8410-2269 fax, www.adelaidesightseeing.com.au) does a day trip to three wineries in the Barossa Valley for about $65 per person.

I recently flew on Alitalia to Italy. On both flights passengers were not allowed to use DVD players, CD players, Game Boys and laptops that used CDs, even after we achieved cruising altitude. Why does Alitalia have this policy? Do other airlines do this?

Larry Spinelli

Arlington

The issue of whether electronic equipment poses an aircraft safety risk has been debated for years. Most airlines differentiate between intentional emitters that put out radio frequencies, such as cell phones and portable computers that receive e-mail, and unintentional emitters, such as CD players. Intentional emitters are commonly prohibited for the duration of the flight, but CD players, laptops and electronic games are usually permitted when the plane is flying at 10,000 feet or higher.