Transporting wine from abroad
 

Hi,

In the old days pre-London last summer, you can always take a couple of bottles with you in your backpack. Since there are no liquids allowed, you have to check in the bottle - however, at a risk of it breaking and messing up everything in the luggage.

Does anyone know of any special cases, or wine-transport type things for carrying bottles of wine on a plane?

Thanks!

Check out this

I friend has one (but he uses it to transport beer :) ) and he has checked it with no problems.

Uline.com has them, either paper or styrafoam you can pack the bottles in. I also use plain cardboard boxes, 13 x 5 x 5, and that keeps them from breaking too. I've brought home hundreds of bottles, and the only breakage was one that security people had repacked not so carefully as I did when they searched the bag.

If you get some of the bulk pack boxes, you don't need the box, just the shaped pulp paper inserts will keep the bottles in great shape. Just in case I usually wrap it all in a large ziplock bag.

I've been toying with the idea of PVC pipe, getting a piece of whatever size I need and just cutting it down to slightly larger then bottle length, just never got down to the Home Depot to do it. Usually because I get a ton of wine club shipments in before I need to go someplace and just use that packaging.

I pack a bag inside an empty bag so that I have two bags to come back with, one with clothing, one with wine.

If you want a full case shipper, styrafoam liners inside a shipping box, those run $10 or $12, and you can check them as luggage. Customs of course will certainly know you are bringing back wine at that stage.

I actually HAVE that very pipe!

the 4" PVC with holes can be used and this particular pipe type is often found at the end of one's french drain system, which I am currently installilng at my house for gutter run off. I happened to have a small section left over with a cap on the bottom and just ran out to get it. It would easily fit a bottle of wine and it is wide enough in circumfrence to fit most liquor bottles as well. I suppose one could stuff it with bubble wrap or newspaper and stick it in the luggage. On the return trip from say, Italy or France, just put your bottle in there and it can bounce around the luggage transport world with everything else!

I think the reason why the holes could be a good thing is that, if you wrap the bottle in bubblewrap, then customs can kind of get a visual to go along with their scan. They may need to open it and see the corked bottle but if they can see what's in there they may not have to do that. Since the pipe already comes with a version that has holes, heck why not use it?

Pressure at high altitudes was always my concern, but I guess such things do ok in the air. On my last trip in July, I successfully packed 3 bottles of assorted boozes and wines into some foam that a stereo store was throwing away in the European town I was in. I taped it up (I always carry a roll of duct tape when I travel, btw) and it went thru just fine. Just pack it with clothing around it and yeah, have some plastic bags to make sure there are no (or very little) leaks if something does happen.

:)MM

I've used the styrofoam shipping boxes from ULine. Other then being a little bulky, and having a minimum number of boxes to buy, these things work great. I've never lost a bottle using them.

They can be found here. The boxes are a nice way to package the wine if you are planning on giving any of the bottles away.

I brought a couple of bottles to my parents last month from my trip to Argentina. I checked them in my roll aboard and wrapped both bottles in tshirts; put them in the middle of the suitcase and had US put fragile stickers on the bag. Both survived with no problem.

I returned from Buenos Aries 2 weeks ago with 14 bottles of wine, 1 Styrofoam case and 2 bottles rolled in crumpled newspaper placed in the center of our checked luggage.

At US customs when I was asked if I had any food or plants, I said that I had some wine. The agent said, “wine is not food”:eek: (What does he know):D and sent me thru.

There are two distinct cases here:

(1) Bringing bottles from an airside duty-free shop in your carry-on. Certain airports/airlines allow you to take such bottles on the plane. If you are flying nonstop to your destination, then the problem is solved. If you'd need to make a connection somewhere, then of course it is not a good option.

(2) Bringing bottles from landside in your checked luggage. I have brought wine, olive oil, vinegars, pickles---whatever my family viewed as more valuable than my clothes and comfort :mad:---in my checked bags.

First, assuming glass, you have to protect against breakage. Any soft padding, (preferrably with a hard outside shell) is ok, but a liquid-absorbing padding would be better (see below).

Second, should it crack, you want protection against leaks. This means an absorbent material, followed by a leakproof layer.

If you would do this often, it may be worth the trouble to work out a kit and take with you.

For a last minute improvisation, wrap a bath towel around the bottle, tie securely with masking tape, then a couple of shopping bags.

BTW, if carrying several bottles, it is important to protect them from one another as well. In other words wrap each one separately. If checking two bags, try to put your best clothes in one and the liquids in the other.

i've done the cape town - toronto route with wine several times, and so far no problems. one idea is to place the bottle in a dry bag. these are used by campers/canoeists etc to keep their stuff dry. they're totally watertight, lightweight, and pack down to nothing when empty. then i wrap the whole thing in a sweater for padding, and i'm done. drybags are cheap and easy to find at any camping shop.

If the glass breaks there is a pretty decent chance it is going to puncture a dry bag, too.

We just came back from France and stuffed several bottles into our suitcases - rolled up in our clothes. We've done this many, many times and have never had a bottle break...but, then again, we don't travel with the nicest clothes - so we weren't too concerned about the clothes if the bottles broke!

We happened to have a lot of extra diapers (Size 3T "Pull-ups" to be exact) and wrapped several bottles with nappies!

-L

P.S. The nappies were un-used :)

Actually, they were used to protect wine (a noble cause indeed).

I have protected wine as well as possible within standard luggage and have yet to have a problem. Of course, I say this two weeks before going to France and . . .

Styroshippers, from Uline or other merchants are really the best bet by a LONG shot.

If you have a BevMo near you, they sell 3, 6 and 12 bottle shippers.

FedEx & UPS Padded Packs ;):

http://Fedex.com/us/services/package...paddedpak.html
http://www.UPS.com/content/us/en/res...ml#UPS+Pad+Pak

I did take the cut section of 4" PVC pipe with me on a recent trip. It has holes in it as it is meant for drainage outside at ends of underground systems like the ones I installed at my own home. I was able to pack my wine from EU into it and put some newspaper around the bottle too. All this went in my bag and it was fine. And cost free!
(well in my case it was scrap but pipe sections like this can be found at home depot)

I frequently bring wine / champagne or other liquids (ranging from water to olive oil to salad dressing) in my checked luggage. I simply wrap each bottle individually in a towel or t-shirt and pack the bottle into the center of my bag, with other soft items above and below. I always make sure to have something between each end of the bottle and the wall of the suitcase. I have never had a problem.

The only issue is that if you're taking several bottles of wine / champagne with you in checked luggage, your bag will get pretty heavy. So you need to be careful not to make your bag overweight or you may have to pay a fee.

If you are serious about your wine, you might also consider the issue of "bottle shock" before immediately opening your wine upon arrival.

Several wine accessory merchants sell specially designed wine travel suitcases for about $100. They hold 12 bottles, with padded slots for each bottle. Lost only one bottle after several TATL wine runs. The sole casualty appeared to be due to a slam dunk on the arrival baggage cart or conveyor belt The suitcase was still leaking when I claimed it and the lost bottle was not just broken but totally shattered. So I'm 95 for 96 using the special bag.

Have a perfect record using boxes with styro inserts, but find them a lot less easy to manage while touring and especially after the fill up.

One other note is that you can run afoul of state liquor laws depending on where you land. They only airport I've heard singled out is SLC -- Utah only allows international passengers to bring in two liters of alcohol. Bringing in a case of wine on the CDG-SLC flight could be an expensive mistake.

most states have laws against the illegal importation of alcohol, including PA, since they believe running a monopoly on alcohol within the state is vital to state government's function, but i digress - I've never heard of or seen enforcement at the airport.

Post offices (at least in Western Australia) here sell the styrofoam wine shipping containers. Cardboard are also now appearing. Obviously a better choice exists in the wine growing regions if it is a smaller city/town. 1 2 or 3 bottle packaging exists.

Normally the smaller vineyards are better buy that what you would find in the duty free shops on departing. But that's a personal opinion. Come visit the Great Southern and/or Margaret River areas and see what I mean. :D

Fred

For shipping a few bottles in luggage, I would suggest using WineSkins.

If you are returning from visiting a 'wine region' and want to bring back full cases, check with the wineries. They are usually happy to sell you wine shippers at reasonable prices, if you are buying their wine.

Alternatively, if you are departing from a mid-size or larger airport, check the local phone book for TNT Air Freight. They are pretty much global and I have good luck buying case-size wine shippers from them for $10-$12 US. Also, it can make for an interesting journey through customs with large white boxes that are simply labeled: "TNT". ;)