+1 on Wine by Air. Never had problems with them.
I’m with Kevin and Jim. When I first read the post last weekend, I thought about Bill Bounds at the Cork Vault. I’m pretty sure that Bill has offered logistical advice or support to others in similar situations. And the Cork Vault is a great storage option as well. Good luck and be well!
James
A few years ago I used Domaine as well for a move from Seattle to DC. Everything went smoothly and had no issues whatsoever. I used Uline boxes for packing.
1 Like
I am late to this thread, but as I’m name checked specifically I thought it would be worth making my first post after lurking for years. Perhaps I can add some clarity to the process here for those who may search out this thread in the future. Oh, and before I go any further I should also thank Kevin, Jim, and James for their kind words; they are greatly appreciated.
I have done first/final mile contracting for just about every shipping company listed in this thread. I get held to a high standard when working for these companies, especially The Wine Mover, and I’d feel confident in moving my own collection via any of the shippers mentioned here. When you engage a wine shipper you are typically paying for someone to arrange all of the logistics for you. Those steps are:
- Bottles off rack into boxes
- Boxes out of your house into a holding area
- The palletizing of said boxes
- The shipping of those pallets
- The downstacking and delivery to final destination
- In rare cases, placing wine back onto the rack
Typically a large scale shipper will contract with local companies (like Cork Vault) for the final mile work and then contract a trucking company to convey the pallet in a reefer trailer between the two. It’s refrigerated from the time it leaves your house until final delivery.
As part of the first mile process we supply our own boxes. So feel free to spend $16/box with Uline and pack your own, but in my opinion it’s largely unnecessary and costs significantly more than the cardboard someone like me can provide. Shippers are made for wine that is constantly being handled and shuffled around, even dropped. Once I put a box on a pallet and wrap it sufficiently, it’s not getting touched again until it’s at the final destination. Breakage on pallets is very rare in my experience, which is helped by the fact that collector wine doesn’t get other pallets stacked on top like you’d find at a distributor. Not that I’ve seen, anyway. So it’s personal preference, but I don’t see any need for styrofoam shippers on wine that’s getting palletized.
The trucking part of the equation is the most vague. Pallets can take all kinds of routes across the country, and delivery windows can be large. It’s just the way freight goes. Trucks show up whenever they show up, business hours be damned.
Every now and then I talk to people who would like to move their wine themselves. I have a few helpful tips there as well. If you’re insisting on driving a box truck during cooler months, please consider sourcing a few pallets to stack your wine on. The floors of those trucks can get quite hot due to exhaust routing and drivetrain heat. Using a pallet to give an air barrier gives you at least some chance that the airflow will mitigate the heat being generated.
A better solution would be to rent a minivan or a Suburban where you can fold the seats down. You can fit 32 cases of wine in a Suburban/Yukon XL without stacking them, which puts you just at the weight capacity limit. Turn the a/c down as low as it’ll go, put on a sweater, and avoid leaving the car off in the sun for anything more than a bathroom break. You’d be surprised at how little heat can transit a taped cardboard box if the inside of the car is at 68 F. I’ve measured roughly 1-1.5 degree F gain per hour from 55 F in that scenario.
You can rent a refrigerated van from Ryder if you have a business that you could tie it to. The downside there is that you’ll pay a hefty mileage fee and hour fee for the reefer unit. Plus, there are no one-way rentals though these providers, automatically doubling your mileage. I don’t think it’s a reasonable option for most private collectors.
The big caveat to moving wine yourself is the pure labor involved. It’s a lot more work than people expect (much like inventorying!) and can be pretty physically demanding depending on where you’re loading into/out of. Plus, moving anything beyond 20-30 cases really does start to require more resource than most people have personal access to.
Lastly, as long as we are talking about privately owned wine, then I’m not aware of any interstate law that you could break by transporting it. If someone knows better, I’m all ears. But I’ve discussed this with several lawyers and wine storage facility owners. My understanding is that privately owned wine is “post-tax”, and since govt agencies like ABCs exist for tax purposes, wine that has already been through that process would be outside of their purview. Contracting your own wine to be moved between locations is not the same as a winery sending wine to a retailer and skipping the distributor.
I think I’ve covered most of the major topics brought up here. If anyone else has questions, I’m happy to pull the curtain back as best I can. I’ll try to keep an eye on this thread.
Thanks!
Bill @ Cork Vault
3 Likes
Excellent summary, Bill. I did the same when I owned Seattle Wine Storage, and they continue that work without me. I agree with everything you posted.
1 Like
Reading this thread is another reminder that I am tethered to our current house until my death. The thought of moving my bloated collection gives me hives.