I just got home from Oregon tonight and what we did was buy our wine there, a winery gave us a 12 pack shipper, and we checked it. cheapest shipping I’ve ever paid for a case.
I’ve used https://stagecoachexpress.com/ numerous times in Napa to send bottles back to NYC and it’s been great. Worth a second to check out!
We always check cases back to Florida on our flight, five trips with zero issues. I vote to check your wine and keeping a shipper with you all day isn’t that bad. Depending on when you visit and how many days, you can leave the shipper in your room and fill it when you return each day.
Some wineries will offer penny shipping if you join a club for a couple shipments a few will allow your first purchase to be one of them, we’ve taken advantage of that also in the past.
Feel free to PM me any questions.
Thanks again for all of the input. This is exactly why I asked now, so I know my options while there. I guess it’ll depend on how much we buy. If we buy 6 or under, I’ll probably just use a service to ship via UPS/FedEx. If we buy closer to 12, grabbing a winecheck locally may be the move!
I’m a fan of bringing it home with me in checked luggage. Or having the winery ship it, weighing convenience vs. cost/bottle.
As others have mentioned, weather is another factor. If it’s sunny or hot and you’re doing multiple stops without getting back to your room to drop off the bottles, bring a cooler and ice packs to keep in the car with the accumulating bottles between visits.
Never heard of stagecoachexpress before but will give them a look. Sounds very convenient.
Fan of the wine check luggage. It’s a bit weird to travel with empty on the way but the travel back is great. If you’re flying Southwest it flys free, assuming you only have one other bag.
When I travel to Oregon for an annual golf tournament I utilize my golf bag carrier for wine shipping. Always worked great.
Dicey shipping this time of year (I live in south FL); once plane lands here, it could sit & be exposed
If I go this route, I’d pay a little extra for cold packs. Honestly, I started this thread so I don’t panic while out there and stress out finding out options. Now I know the options available to me and will play by ear while out there. Hell, not even sure we’ll be bringing bottles home.
I have been in touch with fellow WB Carrie from Napa Wine and Cigars. They sell WineChecks so can always pivot once there if we end up buying a lot
I was just going to suggest getting in touch with Carrie and Randy. Other options are Buffalo Shipping in Napa and Bodega Shipping in St. Helena - both offer cold pack shipping options.
We fill our Wine Check up with water bottles on the way out to give it some heft and to have water to start out with in Napa.
Have used both of these and also Stagecoach, all were great. The only problem with using a shipping service is that you are bound to buy more than 12 bottles, once you get to 13 you might as well make it 24…
I’d caution you to make a list of the things you’re thinking about buying before you go and checking the pricing at local retail.
There are always unique things at the wineries when you visit, but you may be able to get a better deal locally than cellar door price for known wines from bigger wineries that have products in the distribution system.
No-one has talked about the actual cost of shipping wine back home. I’ve been to Napa and priced shipping services. A case of wine weighs about 40 lbs. If you ship via UPS it
might cost $30-$35 shipping to Ohio, but if you declare it as wine UPS or Fedex won’t ship it. I’ve sent it undeclared and never had a problem. If the shipment was lost or damaged you would be SOL.
I’ve seen shipping services charge $80 a case or more. That’s a rip off. Bringing your own styrofoam shipper is by far the best way. And it will give some protection to your wine while you’re driving around sunny California. If you have you wine shipped, have the winery do it. They are mostly accommodating. When I’ve traveled with friends, we’ve always pooled our purchases so we are buying at least a case from the winery we are visiting. Most wineries want to make it easy for you to buy their wine on site and having a good shipping policy is a good selling point.
Mark, you go buy your own shipper from a retailer, you pay the highest price for it. Shippers use wholesale pricing to be competitive. A case to Ohio is currently, without a residential fee, but with signature required and no insurance is about $50.00. To a business and insured, $70.00 plus, depending on the value of the wine. Most wineries use outside shippers/fulfillment centers which are more expensive, $80 to $100 to Ohio and $90 plus to the east coast.
There have been many laws, lawsuits and legislation among the states requiring UPS and FedEx to monitor and eliminate illegal shipments of alcoholic beverages or be prosecuted.
If you want your wine and no hassles, buy a Wine Check, pay the pittance for the extra bag and you have same day shipping.
Does Alaska Airlines still have their wine flies free promotion?
The definitive answer is above. Better yet if you have a cc that allows for airline credits (I have an AMEX that credits $200 per year, handy for charging extra bags). Checked bag shipping is an economical solution that will guarantee that you will not get into trouble with FedEx /UPS and our incredibly stupid alcohol shipping laws that are driven by the three tier protectionist system. Airlines could care less what you check.
If you want to make it super easy, try using the skycap curbside check when you pull up with a rental car (assuming you are traveling with another person). They will take those nice heavy boxes off your hands without you lugging them through a check in line.
Now if only the damned airlines would go back to allowing a free bag check again we could really travel more conveniently, and we might even get to the point where we can all get off and on the damn plane in less than an hour. If I have to watch another 110lb woman trying to hoist a 60 lb carry on bag into an overhead bin by herself (because she does not want to pay a check fee) I am going to lose my mind. But that is another story. 
PS. Slipping the skycap a tenner to assist you with those heavy boxes will assure they will arrive on the plane promptly in my experience.
This wasn’t terrible advice. One of the wines I was looking at bringing home, the winery wants $110, and then whatever to get it home. My local shop has same bottle for $99.