Best option for getting my wine to Hawaii?

[CFu]

@Bruce Leiser_owitz

@Justin Wittkopf

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?

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

Drink indoors?

[Dale_Bowers]

Lots of good responses.

I spent 3 weeks on the Big Island every Jan/Feb and while we drink lots of local beer, gin/vodka, and many easy drinking whites from the Kona Wine Shop, I also love Champagne and feel it works very well in a tropical setting. I always bring a case of Bubbles in a WineCheck and highly recommend one if you haven’t tried one before.

[Andrew_Kaufman]

Send it UPS ground.

[Andrew_Kaufman]

@Jerry Hey

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.

The MK ain’t what it used to be when it was a Rock Resort. Stopped going there 25 years ago or more.

[Joe_Dulworth]

Check it as luggage. Done it so many times I’ve forgotten how many at this point. Never a problem.

[Carlton_McCrindle]

I agree with Joe and others that have suggested that you check it as luggage. TSA has consistently opened the styrofoam case inside our Wine Check but have always carefully re-taped when done.

[Jerry_Hey]

Andrew Kaufman - if you haven’t been to the Mauna Kea in 25 years, how do you know whether it’s good or not? After the earthquake in 2006, MK spent $150 on renovation and they are continuing to refurbish the hotel with another $5M in 2015.

Still one of my favorite old Hawaiian hotels.

[Steve_Brickley]

Thanks to wine check under the plane to Oahu. This load was misplaced and went to Maui, but was delivered to our house same day and was cool to the touch. We do this twice a year and no other problems. I do take a video of the bottles in the wine check before departure. Mahalo.

[Andrew_Kaufman]

@Jerry Hey

Andrew Kaufman - if you haven’t been to the Mauna Kea in 25 years, how do you know whether it’s good or not? After the earthquake in 2006, MK spent $150 on renovation and they are continuing to refurbish the hotel with another $5M in 2015.

Still one of my favorite old Hawaiian hotels.

Jerry Hay. It stunk after it was no longer a rock resort. Good good friends went their ten years ago or so. They were unimpressed.

[M_Meer]

+1 on the champagne & white wine focus. Would also add Beaujolais, Northern Italian red wines, and any other lighter-bodied reds that are best served cool. If eating outdoors, cool them down to 45° and they should be fine by the time the main course arrives.

[Warren_Taranow]

@Steve Brickley

Thanks to wine check under the plane to Oahu. This load was misplaced and went to Maui, but was delivered to our house same day and was cool to the touch. We do this twice a year and no other problems. I do take a video of the bottles in the wine check before departure. Mahalo.

I have a similar photo! I typically travel to Hawaii with a case. I use the Vingarde Valise.

[Arv_R]

@Chris Seiber

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.

+1

In addition to the pictures/videos that are others take before travel, I would also do this: print out the airlines baggage policy w/r/t special items like pets/alcohol etc.

I actually once had to use that to convince some unknowledgeable person that it was legal for my to fly my wine somewhere. Especially if one is traveling with a styro shipper, as opposed to a few bottles wrapped in bubble wrap in regular checked luggage.

I guess if you’re flying to the islands, there’s a good chance one might be on HA, and I’m not a fan of their baggage policies.

[Steve_Brickley]

This is turning into a “show us your Hawaii wine photo” courtesy of Wine Check. Who takes a picture of all their wine on vacation anyway?

[Chris_Seiber]

Those photos look a whole hell of lot better than Mai Tais. That’s my kind of vacation.

[Warren_Taranow]

@Steve Brickley

This is turning into a “show us your Hawaii wine photo” courtesy of Wine Check. Who takes a picture of all their wine on vacation anyway?

Steve,
I have a photo somewhere, of another Hawaii trip, with significant overlap! PYCM, Dauvissat, Ceritas, Rhys, Gimmonet.
We’ll have to coordinate a tasting sometime. I usually go to the Big Island, but have also been making a yearly winter trip to Maui.

Cheers, and apologies for the thread hijacking,
Warren

[briangl]

The first time we went to Kauai I brought a case in a styro shipper. Now I just stock up at the Wine Store in Koloa. I even got free corkage at Red Salt in Poipu.

[Justin_Wittkopf]

@briangl

The first time we went to Kauai I brought a case in a styro shipper. Now I just stock up at the Wine Store in Koloa. I even got free corkage at Red Salt in Poipu.

So this wine store has good selections, fairly priced?

Also, since you mentioned free corkage, are there other places with free corkage you recommend? We are staying 3 nights at St. Regis and 3 nights at Grand Hyatt, for reference.

Thanks.

[Scott_Jameson]

@Justin Wittkopf

@briangl

The first time we went to Kauai I brought a case in a styro shipper. Now I just stock up at the Wine Store in Koloa. I even got free corkage at Red Salt in Poipu.

So this wine store has good selections, fairly priced?

Also, since you mentioned free corkage, are there other places with free corkage you recommend? We are staying 3 nights at St. Regis and 3 nights at Grand Hyatt, for reference.

Thanks.

I mentioned earlier in this thread that for the wines I knew, the pricing at The Wine Shop is close to winery pricing - not heavily discounted, but not marked up either. The selection was pretty good, too. I found a bourbon there that I hadn’t seen here in Texas and carried that home.

The shop does have arrangements with some local restaurants for bottles purchased there, and I suggest you give them a call to get a current list. Other than that, I’m not aware of any restaurants with no corkage fee. Most are in the $15-$25 range, although Tidepools at the Grand Hyatt graciously waived our fee for no apparent reason.

[Matt_Latuchie]

@Chris Seiber

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.

I did this when I was flying out to LAX for work. Packed some Allemand & Rougeard for a supa balla dinner with Fu. Dropped the box (standard 6-pack styro box) off at ORD and it never made it to LAX. In fact, it was never SCANNED IN at ORD! Lost and Found searched for it and didn’t find anything. Best guess is that a couple United (or ORD) employees made off with it. When I put in my lost baggage request, I was only able to request refunds for the original purchase price of the wine - which were much much below current market value. I was not a happy camper!

[Eric_S_n_y_d_e_r]

@Justin Wittkopf

@briangl

The first time we went to Kauai I brought a case in a styro shipper. Now I just stock up at the Wine Store in Koloa. I even got free corkage at Red Salt in Poipu.

So this wine store has good selections, fairly priced?

Also, since you mentioned free corkage, are there other places with free corkage you recommend? We are staying 3 nights at St. Regis and 3 nights at Grand Hyatt, for reference.

Thanks.

As mentioned before, the Wine Store in Koloa is a good shop with reasonable pricing and good advice.

I’ve eaten at the Kauai Grill in St Regis, but drank BTG, and Tidepools which also waived my corkage (great service there all around!).

Really enjoyed Tidepools, ate there twice even though we weren’t staying at the Grand Hyatt.