My wife and I are headed to Hawaii for our 10th anniversary and I have some special bottles I wanted to send or bring for us to enjoy while we are there. I am torn between shipping or bringing a case as luggage. Anyone have any experience with getting wines to Hawaii?
I would not trust shipping with the weather out there. Buy a WineCheck and just bring a case of wine.
We always bring a case in a wine check. It’s very simple and much easier than trying to arrange to ship it ahead of time.
I think this is the best solution. As a person who lives in Hawaii and gets wines shipped here, it is expensive and a pain. I recently discovered the ice pack shippers which many vendors use, so that takes some of the weather variables out. I used to only ship in the November-February window but recently had and ice pack shipment that was cool to the touch when delivered. Of course I live here and track the shipment so that it will not sit overnight in a warehouse. Always ship on a Monday.
I, too, live in Honolulu and, as Mark recommends, always have wine shipped on a Monday. Because they invariably arrive cool to the touch, I am willing to have wine shipped in October so it will be well-rested by Christmas. (Yes, travel shock is real – as I’ve learned the hard way.)
Also the new ice pack shippers are great. I took a chance and had the recent Last Bottle Marathon wines shipped two weeks ago. The ice packs were still frozen.
Just carry it in luggage. Wine Check or similar device is great, but if you don’t have one and don’t want to buy one, just pack them into a typical styro shipper box, tape it up, write your name on the outside, and off you go. A full case of wine in a styro shipper box will make it under the 50 pound limit.
Depending on your airline and how many bags you’re checking, you might pay anywhere from $0 to maybe $80, which is less expensive and less hassle than shipping and retrieving it. You also don’t have to worry about temperatures; little time will transpire between when you check it into luggage and when the plane takes of to cool temperatures at high elevation, and little time will pass between then and when you retrieve it from luggage.
Then you can discard the shipper box for the return flight and not have to pay anything that direction.
we need a like button chris.
Thanks, guys. I was thinking shipping (traveling in November) would be the least hassle, but maybe not after reading your thoughts.
I will have to risk the travel shock and bring them as check baggage. We are traveling to Kauai and the wine lists at the resort restaurants are ridiculous.
Just drink mai tais. The last time I took wine for a special occasion, the weather basically ruined all the wine, which included a Drouhin Montrachet and Yquem. I much prefer tropical drinks or at best, Champagne.
But if you must, just pack a few special bottles in your luggage. Make sure any red wine isn’t too old or it will get shaken up.
Justin, in regards to shipping
Barrington IL to Lihue, Kauai, 2nd day Air, about $250, Next day air $335.
Wine Check is cheap by comparison, plus you can pull out the styro and fill it with Kona coffee, chocolate covered macadamia nuts, salted macadamia nuts and all those T-shirts you are going to buy.
Reread the subject line. And Mai Tais suck, every one of them.
Not sure if you’re headed to the North or South part of the island, but The Wine Shop in Koloa had a good selection and wasn’t horribly marked up.
I’d agree with much of what has been said above by locals. I will add a different slant, and based on my own experience, and while it may seem odd, it is what I have found over the years. I’ll share my experience and hope it helps some. From a wine perspective, I’ve gone to Oahu once or twice a year to visit family for the last 25 years. Prior to that, I spent several months a year in my formative years in rural northern Oahu, but was not drinking wine at that time. On my trips to Oahu as an adult, I used to spend a bunch of energy and effort bringing wines to drink on vacation. I used to want to drink special wines on island on vacation. I would pack up and bring pensive, complicated wines and bring them in my luggage, or store them at my family’s home until my next visit. I have drunk and under appreciated a tremendous amount of great wine on island. What I have found is that on island, I enjoy (often cheap) low alcohol tank fermented whites, rose, and fresh uncomplicated bubbles (and beer) more than GC burg, etc. I’ve run a gambit of Hawaii wine habits over the years. I used to cellar a decent stash wines at my parent’s home, but have not added to the stash in years (and have not drunk much of that stash either). Nowadays, I try to get a case or so of fresh hot weather friendly wines on island. Fujioka’s has a tolerable wine selection at non offensive pricing, decent beer choices. Tamura’s has been decent as well. I’m forgetting a good place that is underground downtown near Waialae. That said, if you don’t mind schlepping the bottles, grab a case or so from a good mainland retailer and bring them with you on the plane. It will be cheaper than Hawaii prices, and will offset luggage costs. Fedex, etc on island seem to work on “island time” and there seems to be little hurry to deliver packages in a timely manner, and it gets hot in the trucks. I’ve had no experience with cold packs shipped to Oahu, but I would guess it costs more than a 40 pound baggage. I would vote of bringing your own wine, but at least for me I think you will find you will want to drink different wines than you may think you will want to drink. Hope that helps some.
If you want any food ideas on Oahu, feel free to PM or better, email me.
Mai Tai’s at Monkey Pod in Maui DO NOT SUCK. Tourist juice, for sure, but who cares. Chris, Chris, Chris…
That’s even worse, considering what a good and I recall reasonably priced wine list Monkey Pod has.
Wine just doesn’t work for me in Hawaii, Chris. And I did read the subject line and responded to it.
The Mai tais at the Mauna Kea definitely don’t suck either, Andrew. Had one at the Monkeypox and it was also very good.
I lived in Hawaii for 5 years and had a condo on Kona for 12 years after that so I know a little about life in Hawaii.
Just had the suckiest mai tai at Bob Chins crabhouse last night. I have never liked them. But the crab stuffed shrimp was great.
If you only have a few bottles, wrap them in bubble wrap, roll them up in something like jeans, and place in your checked luggage.
Having said that, I tend to agree with Jerry. The warm, tropical environment of Hawaii generally isn’t conducive to my enjoyment of high-end wines, esp. high-end red wines. I could see bringing something like a special bottle of Champagne, though.
Bruce
For lunch, two Mai Tais at Haleiwa Joe’s on the North Shore along with an order or two of Black & Blue Ahi and your afternoon will be smooth sailing!
We always take a few bottles when we travel to Kauai. I just put a 3 or 6 bottle styro shipper in our checked luggage. It’s a very BYOB-friendly island and there are some excellent restaurants where you could enjoy some special wines.
I do agree with Eric’s recommendation for The Wine Shop in Koloa. For the wines I knew, the pricing is close to winery pricing - not heavily discounted, but not marked up either. They also have arrangements with some of the few restaurants who don’t permit BYOB to allow wine purchased there to be brought in.