I’ve visited Sonoma a few times but have driven down each time. In April I’ll be flying into Santa Rosa Airport for a long weekend. Alaska Airlines says that each passenger can check a case of wine without counting against baggage allowance.
Has anyone done this? If so, how did you pack it? I normally would never trust an airline with a case of wine, even in styrofoam shipping inserts, but since they specifically mention checking wine I am curious. Especially since it’s just a short, direct flight to Seattle.
Also, a bit off topic, but does anyone have any recommendations for interesting wineries to visit in Napa? I’m relatively familiar with Sonoma and there are a number of posts to reference but I couldn’t find much in Napa.
We’re planning to spend one day over there, visiting Outpost and having dinner at Farmstead but would love to set up another appointment or two. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.
Run a Google search on wine flies free on Alaska airlines. My Google search disclosed that you have to be an Alaska mileage member, and when flying from California the wine has to be California wine and when flying from Oregon the wine have to be Oregon wine. It is a tourism promotion.
I have not had problems flying with a boxed styro shipper. No breakage.
Phil Jones
As far as interesting wineries to visit it really depends on your style preferences. There are plenty of Cab-centric wineries, most offering bigger wines like Shafer, Hall, or Arkenstone (just down the road from Outpost). A few with wider offerings like Chateau Montelena, Pride or Alpha Omega. I like to visit Spottswoode but they only offer 2 or three wines (Cab Sauv, Sauv Blanc). If you like to chat with the winemaker I can highly recommend PMing Roy Piper to see if he is available. Vine Hill Ranch also has a small operation that can involve some great one on one talk with the owners but like Roy, they only make Cabs. I’m sure there will be plenty of suggestions coming along from the board.
I just flew across the country with a case of wine… packed a regular shipping box/styro inside of a wine check bag.
It worked really well, no issues with the airline. I have status on United - so it was free to check the bag as well.
And I agree - it’s probably better for the wine to ship via an airline than via UPS/Fedex. The shipping box is the same and the wine will see a lot less handling over a half day of flying vs. 2 days to a week of regular shipping.
It’s an Alaska/Horizon thing out of STS. Use a styro shipper or better yet a WineCheck! Taking a case with me to Falltacular on Alaska out of STS in a couple weeks.
I appreciate all of the information. I had already read the Alaska Airlines and Santa Rosa Airport promotional materials but was still unconvinced.
I was more curious about individual experiences as, even though there is little difference between airlines and UPS/FedEx in taking care with packages, at least with UPS/FedEx there is typically some sort of insurance.
It sounds like some have tried this with no issue, so I can buy with reckless abandon.
I’ve checked wine dozens of times in styro shippers from SF to NYC and from Europe to NYC over 20+ years, and never had a problem. In recent years, I’ve ended up using cardboard shippers, too. On some occasions, I’ve been on connecting flights. I wouldn’t think twice about it, particularly on a short flight out of a small airport between two places with temperate climates.
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