My husband and I travel with carry on luggage only. On the way home from our trips, my husband always seems to have acquired 5 or 6 bottles of local wines and liquors we have to deal with getting home. I always forget to order those wine skins. I wrap each bottle in a plastic bag, roll it in an article of clothing, and then arrange the bottles in the luggage cushioned with clothing the best I can. I only use the clothes for wrapping and cushioning that we are willing to sacrifice should there be a wine casualty.

So far in 7 trips, I've only had 1 alcohol casualty, a 1.5L wine bottle that ruined one of my shirts and an old dress. The other four 750 mL bottles in the same suitcase were ok. On this last trip, the wine and limoncello all made it home safely. My actual suitcase didn't fare so well. The rollerboard handle was busted beyond repair. Luckily AA came through and replaced it for me but I sacrificed my favorite suitcase for my husband's limoncello.

1-2 bottles, wine skin works great, otherwise save a leftover wine shipper, i.e. a proper one as used by wineries etc to *ship* wine, usually made out of styrofoam which fits snugly inside a sturdy cardboard box. Not to be confused with those garbage boxes piled up at wine shops! Only problem is that Champagne bottles can be troublesome on occasion :cool:

For padding and absorbency I just pick up a small pack of largest toddler diapers which I wrap around before sealing it in a plastic bag when I am without my wineskins.

This has absolutely become true in recent years: the airline wine shippers aren't as prevalent as they were 10-15 years ago, even in huge wine regions like Napa or Sonoma. One of the Kinko's where we had bought a shipper before said they stopped carrying them shortly after the airlines imposed bag fees: that killed off 75% of the demand for them.

Some wineries will have them onsite in their tasting rooms, but many don't - especially if they do their shipping out of a warehouse in a different location.

We always bring empties with us on wine trips. Sometimes garners a surprised look from a counter agent. Yes, I would like to check these empty boxes. :) One of these years, we will buy the nice rolling case (a more permanent piece of luggage). Perhaps when our existing supply of airline shippers becomes worn out.

We've used these shippers for probably 10-12 trips. WA, NY, multiple VA, and multiple CA. Never a casualty. We also carry a few sleeves for sparking wine bottles...we put those into our other checked luggage since they don't usually fit in the shipper case.

Yeah it's a hassle, but worth it since we do a lot of our wine trips in the summer. Shipping via UPS would be a long hot ride across the plains from either coast.

Sounds like you have first hand experience this product so hopefully you have an answer for my question. Would it be compatible with champagne bottles since they are a little bigger around the base? The wife and I are planning a trip to France next year and were wondering whether this would work for us.

If anyone else on here has experience with this I'd love to hear from you.

I went to Home Depot, and for under seven bucks you can get a ten foot piece of 4 inch pvc drain pipe

http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1...1#.UKGpXOTAebs

If you don't have a saw at home, bring it over to the moulding section, measure and cut off a 1 foot long section, and repeat until you have ten pieces of pipe.

A wine bottle fits perfectly inside (even pinot and champagne). You can fill them with your clothing on the trip out, or just buy it there.

I've been using it for years and never had a problem. The stuff is pretty indestructible unless you freeze it in liquid notrogen and hit it with a sledge hammer.

When put in a suitcase, it doesn't scream "somebody steal me, I'm a case of wine" as it's spinning around in the luggage area.

I moved to Michigan from LA. I have yet to find any Michigan wine I'd buy, and I live 20 minutes from an area that has vineyards/sells a lot of wine.

If the OP is shipping a 'case', then I think the wine shipping box is the way to go.

For those just bringing a bottle or two along for a trip (like I do to countries whose exchange rate is kicking the US$ arse), I wrap the bottle in a couple of hand towels, then put it inside a plastic bag in case of breakage/to prevent spill, and then put it in the middle of clothes in the luggage so it's surrounded by soft stuff/won't break.

I'm probably jinxing myself here, but it's worked so far.

Cheers. Sharon

That's a great piece of advice, thank you, never thought about that, we are usually going twice a year to France/Spain/Italy and its always something close to a heart attack to have those bottles in your luggage, with that I can finally test the limits of my baggage allowance;)
I think you can also buy some caps for those pipes, just to close one side, the other maybe stuffed with old news papers and wedge it a bid, just to don't cause an airport shut down if someone looks through the bag:)
thx for sharing!

Checked in 6 large wine shipping boxes from LAX to LHR after a visit to napa earlier this year...all made it, no overweight charges (on BA at least) and they even came on the baggage belt first.
Just get a decent shipping box (with polystyrene inside)when you buy it, gaffa tape it shut properly, and make sure check in puts a fragile sticker on it.

I have to say, i have a large wine collection with all sorts of weird and wonderful varieties, but i have never tried wine from michigan...i am intrigued...