I don't want to bog the original discussion down with my adventures with a bottle of Lufthansa wine. But:
I got off the flight, which was FRA-ATL at ATL. I can't recall how ATL is arranged for customs etc. On hind sight, and after the comments in the last couple of posts on the subject, I suppose I had passed customs with my checked bag, before having my bottle confiscated at the last security desk just before the outside world. What the agent must have said to me was probably that in order not to lose my wine I would need to put the bottle in my checked bag, then recheck it. Something like that, which didn't sound reasonable. Not a good idea at any time, especially having just flown FRA-ATL.
So the story is limited to my still being surprised to be told that I could not take a bottle of wine, an in-flight gift, into Atlanta.
Laurence