How to Travel with Wine

If you’ve been following me for a while, you know we’ve been traveling to different wine regions for the past several years. We always purchase wine on these trips, and I often get questions about how we travel with our wine and how we manage to get it home safely. Today, I wanted to address this topic and explain how we have been traveling with our wine.

You may be wondering, “Why would I travel with my wine? Shouldn’t I just have the winery ship it to my house?” You could do this, but it can get really expensive if you are paying for shipping at every winery you visit. I’ve seen wineries charge anywhere from $20 to $100 to ship a case of wine.

Sometimes the winery will offer a discount on shipping when you’re visiting, but I think it’s still much cheaper to take it with you. Also, more often than not, the shipping “deals” are only offered if you buy a case of wine. You may not want to buy 12 bottles of wine at each winery you visit.

Anyways, if you are looking to travel with your wine and save some money, take a look through the options below. There are several amazing products available to get your wine home safe and sound.

Wine Suitcase – VinGardeValise

We do not own of these wine suitcases, but I would LOVE to have one. The main reason we don’t own one is because they are very expensive. This one in particular is $350! It seems very secure and reliable, but I can’t seem to justify spending the money when there are other wine suitcases available for under $100.

Pros:

• It’s easy to drag/roll through the airport.
• You don’t need a cardboard box or styrofoam container.

Cons:

• It’s expensive.
• It’s very heavy. I’ve read reviews online where people stated that it weighs over 50 pounds if you have a full case of wine (thus an extra charge for an overweight bag).

Wine Suitcase – The Wine Check

This is the wine suitcase we have been using for the past year, and we LOVE it. It’s very reliable, and it seems like it will stay intact for several years. I like how simple it is. You just need a cardboard box that can fit 12 bottles of wine. That box will then fit right inside the suitcase. We’ve never had an issue with bottles breaking, and it’s always been under 50 pounds. The airlines have never questioned us about the suitcase, and we’ve never had issues with it in all of our travels.

Pros:

• It’s affordable.
• You could technically carry it on in a different suitcase if you ditch the cardboard box inside.
• It’s a very simple design, so there’s less that could break on the suitcase.

Cons:

• It’s harder to drag through the airport since it doesn’t have four wheels.
• You need to make sure you have a cardboard box and shipping tape with you. Most wineries have these supplies, but we travel with them just in case.

Wine Skins

We purchased these last year, and they work great if you want to fit a couple bottles into your normal suitcase. Previously, we had always wrapped the wine bottles in our clothes and hoped for the best. Even though it always worked out for us, it always made me nervous that we were going to end up with a broken bottle and a big mess to clean up. These are inexpensive, TSA approved AND reusable. I would recommend purchasing these versus trying to wrap the wine bottles in your clothes. No one wants red wine stains all over their nice outfits 🙂

Pros:

• They are extremely affordable.
• They are TSA approved. The TSA won’t open them since they are clear and can see what’s in the package.
• They are reusable.
• They are lightweight.

Cons:

• I was having a hard time thinking of a con, but I guess these would technically add a little extra weight to your suitcase (probably less than half a pound). It would also take up a little more space in your suitcase versus wrapping the wine bottles in your clothes.

If you don’t feel like spending money on any of these items, you could always wrap your wine bottles with your clothes. We did this for years, and it always worked for us! I am surprised we never had an accident with all of the wine we brought home. If you are going to do this, be sure to wrap the bottles really well and pack them tightly amongst your other clothes. You want your suitcase to be completely full. If the bottles start moving around in the suitcase, they are way more likely to break.

If you have questions about traveling with wine, feel free to leave a comment below or send me an e-mail. I highly recommend purchasing a wine suitcase if you are a frequent wine country traveler. You will save so much money if you go this route. It’s worth the initial investment!

Also, if you have any other tips or tricks when it comes to traveling with wine, feel free to leave those in the comments below. I’d love to hear from you if you have other ideas or methods that have worked. Cheers!