Wine storage box

I have to move my 900 bottle collection into storage. I will need to cram as much as possible into the off site wine locker. Does have any recommendation on what brand of boxes will take up the least room?

Not all bottles fit in all boxes.

That being said, I used Uline double corrugate for my offsite storage. There is an older thread about it somewhere.

What Joel said. You can buy boxes for specific bottle shapes. At least you might want to think about buying some for Bordeaux shapes and some for Rhone shapes. If you get a one-size fits all, you will end up with a lot of air space.

I am in the process of quoting a client myself – he wants me to move his cellar into long term storage while he lives overseas for a few years. I think I’m going with WinePacks.com (I’m new here so can I say that??)

They have a 12-bottle “kit” that will be enough to store / ship ten cases. The “kit” includes ten cartons, plus the pulp inserts for each carton. The kit is $71 plus shipping.

Aren’t cardboard tubes way more efficient than some kind of shipper box? I filled a chest freezer with cardboard tubes and it was significantly more efficient than any other option. I didn’t look into laying bottles directly in contact with one another in a cardboard box. That is a dicey proposition, but probably the most efficient.

12 bottle, 6x2 flat boxes (one size fits most/all). Search for other threads in Wine Talk.

Monica, you can certainly say that, assuming you have no affiliation with them. However, packing for long term storage in shipping boxes, whether styro, pulp or whatever, is not efficient. They take up twice the space, and wine storage facilities charge for the space, not the qty. Far better to pack into laydowns (6x2 flats) or standard wine boxes (3x4).

To Joe Galewski, cardboard tubes may be fine, and reasonably efficient, but you need to get the wine there first. Timewise, easier to pack, transport and store in the same box.

To Richard, the OP, check with your storage facility for recommendations of box shapes and sizes, and possibly for vendors. The best box to maximize storage will often depend on the size and shape of the locker.

Chuck, I have no affiliation with WinePacks (I just discovered them yesterday, actually). YES you are correct, if we were storing in a locker, I would be more concerned about the cost of storing the laydown (12-bottle) boxes because of cubic footage.

However, we are storing in what this facility calls their “bulk” storage area, which means they stack the cases on a pallet and they charge by how many pallets you fill. We’ll have about 30 cardboard cases plus 11 wood crates, and I think that will all stack nicely on a pallet, according to what I’ve seen in this facility. Because we’ll be stacking the cases on a pallet rather than inside a confined locker, so we aren’t constrained with walls as a locker would be.

That being said, Chuck… the reason I wanted to go with the lay down boxes is because this client will be gone for a minimum of a year and possibly more without ever accessing his collection. I am nervous about stacking them in standard upright (3x4) wine boxes because of the corks potentially drying out. I know the wine storage facility maintains temp and humidity but it would make me feel better if the wines were on their sides and the lay downs are the only kind of wine box that I feel I can safely stack more than three high for the long term. At least that I know of.

I enthusiastically welcome any ideas, advice or suggestions though!

Thanks!!
Monica :astonished:)

Monica, you can always stack the 3x4 boxes like most wineries and warehouses do…upside down. As long as the pallet will be shrink wrapped you can stack them at least 5 high. You could even put the 3x4 boxes as the bottom few layers and then put the wooden ones on top for a bit more horizontal stability.

Lay-down is good, but what Chuck called 6x2 flat is also a lay-down box, and more compact. There are also 3x4 lay-down boxes (also more compact than similar configuration shipping boxes).

-Al

Oooooh yes Al you are so right about the 6x2 boxes. I don’t think the site I mentioned has those. Any favorite vendors to get them by chance? Also, are they safe to stack a bunch on top of each other?

Nolan, if this were my collection, I would probably be fine storing upside down but this is someone else’s collection and that makes me a little nervous. (And yes, the stack will be shrink wrapped.)

SO grateful to have found this forum and all you helpful folks!

Monica [cheers.gif]

Any winery that packages their wines in upright 3x4 cases stores them upside down for months or even years before release.

But if you know you won’t need more than one pallet it doesn’t really matter. Peace of mind trumps economy of space in that situation.

I am nervous about stacking them in standard upright (3x4) wine boxes because of the corks potentially drying out.

It’s not going to happen. Even if he’s gone for a couple years.

Monica, you should be able to fit 30 laydown pulp shippers on a pallet with the 11 wood boxes, but using the standard 6x2 laydown (non-shipper) would provide a little better pallet integrity, as those pulp shippers can compress if stacked with a lot of layers. However, it shouldn’t matter much since it will be wrapped. Your original plan should work, but probably costs more than standard laydowns. You can get 7 standard laydowns per layer on a pallet, with up to 9 layers, maybe even more. You can overlap them on each layer which makes for great pallet integrity. You do not want to stack them in columns, although once wrapped, it again shouldn’t matter.

With the smaller boxes, it would enable your client to continue to buy wine while they are out of the country, and add them to the pallet. With the shippers, the pallet would be maxed out from the get go.

Standard bankers’ boxes hold 15 bottles (3 layers of 5) quite efficiently; I’ve used them for years. They’re also sturdy, relatively cheap, and easy to carry. They do leave glass on glass, so perhaps not ideal for transport on a bad road, but I’ve never had a problem with a couple of truck trips and lots of local hauling and stacking.

CHUUUUUCK! YOU ROCK THE HOUSE, MAN! Thank you for all that great info! If I’m reading you correctly, you recommend using the 6x2 lay down boxes – do you recommend adding some kind of packing material to cushion the top layer of bottles since they will be stacked?

Also, I think you said to stagger the boxes on the pallet, right? So the bottom layer would run one direction and the next layer would be laid the opposite direction, sort of like they do bricks?

Thank you again for your help!!

Monica

I’ve stacked 6x2 cardboard boxes up to 13 boxes high for as long as a decade and never had a problem. I would not put anything between the boxes, as it would make the stacks less stable. The key is to have bottles that fit the boxes snugly vertically, so it is basically glass on glass and the bottles are carrying the load, not the boxes. If the box extends much above the bottles, a side or corner can crumple and make the stack unstable.

Thanks for all your responses. Does anyone know a good source for 6x2 wine boxes in the US? Most of the suppliers seem to be from Australia.

OMG Richard, that is exactly what I just posted in another thread! LOL… I found a KILLER price ($1.60 a box) but they won’t ship out of Australia. Drat. I’m finding them nearly impossible to find!

Monica

Actually, the first layer is 3 boxes wide, then 2 boxes rotated 90 degrees, then another two boxes. The next layer is the same, but you start with the 3 boxes on the other end of the pallet. Hard to describe, maybe I’ll take some pics tomorrow.

I’ll do a search for suppliers, hard to fathom why they would be hard to find. Commonly used for Burgundy bottles.