Thoughts on wine suitcases ?

[YLee]

Vingarde user here. Have 2 with magnum inserts as well. I love it.


Cool dog sledding pics!

[Hughes_D]

VingardeValise and they are awesome. Only small negative about flying with wine is that the TSA will probably inspect the luggage once you have checked it so don’t get to the airport late or your wine may miss your flight. My rule is one bottle of wine for every clean pair of underwear and it will be a good trip.

[Dav3_Dyr0ff]

I also love the VGV. Not sure where they can be bought since the company transition except I know that the Grand Reserve credit card has them in their store to buy with points (that’s how I got my second VGV). I have even flown by myself with a briefcase, a carryon, and two VGVs and while it wasn’t ideal, it was manageable with only two hands.

I have never been overweight in the VGV even with a full case, though certainly if they were all heavy bottles (12 x Bedrock, for example), I think you’d be over. I came very close a few months ago when I had a mag of Champagne, which I barely crammed into one of the magnum inserts. That takes the place of two regular bottles, and I had a 375 of Champagne in one of the full bottle slots that I thought would buy me some leeway. The other 9 slots had regular still wine 750s.
Got to the airport - 50.0!!

[David_K_o_l_i_n]

This is what you get:

https://www.pelican.com/us/en/products/cases

I have the 1440. They actually make a wine insert for it that holds 8 bottles. But you don’t need to buy that. I just use bubble wrap and I can fit a whole case in. Just need to watch the weight.

Anyway, these things are indestructible. News teams use them for expensive camera equipment. Bands use them for expensive electronics. Construction workers use them. They’re used to ship vaccines.

And of course you can also use them for general travel suitcases - they are far better than the “hard” sided cases if you have anything fragile. I’ve taken home porcelain and other things that needed protection. If you’re only taking a few bottles, just wrap the bottles some jeans or t shirts or whatever. Mine has flown all over the world to me and it’s always going to have some wine in it.

I have one of these. Indestructible, but heavy. I haven’t used it in a decade

[B_Beachy]

I can’t speak to what it’s like to have a wine-specific suitcase, but I’ve used my regular carry-on roller bag for return flights with no problems. It’s gotten me through quite a few domestic and international flights. I always travel with a super lightweight and compact duffel bag (Sea to Summit) to carry clothes that won’t fit and use the rest of my clothes to secure the bottles. I’m sure if you are bringing wine from home and possibly returning with some, a wine suitcase would be very worthwhile. My system is more for spur of the moment buys on business trips and multi-city vacations that make extra bags problematic.

[Andrew_K]

Bill,

Are you that big of a tool or are you really a mega tik tok star?

You’ve got quite the troll mentality.

[MChang]

I can’t speak to what it’s like to have a wine-specific suitcase, but I’ve used my regular carry-on roller bag for return flights with no problems. It’s gotten me through quite a few domestic and international flights. I always travel with a super lightweight and compact duffel bag (Sea to Summit) to carry clothes that won’t fit and use the rest of my clothes to secure the bottles. I’m sure if you are bringing wine from home and possibly returning with some, a wine suitcase would be very worthwhile. My system is more for spur of the moment buys on business trips and multi-city vacations that make extra bags problematic.

You can use the vingardevalise as a 6 bottle wine suitcase and have half for clothes. That’s how I usually configure it.

[DanielP]

Bill,

Are you that big of a tool or are you really a mega tik tok star?

You’ve got quite the troll mentality.

[B_Davies]

Bill,

Are you that big of a tool or are you really a mega tik tok star?

You’ve got quite the troll mentality.

Excuse me?

[Rodrigo_B]

I’ve been quite happy with the Vinguarde Valise over the years. I have two of them, and pre-pandemic was constantly using them. Just pulled them out for my end of year trip back to Brazil. With the chiller inserts, the bottles all arrived safely and cool in Sao Paulo and Rio in the middle of summer.

[tpetty]

Vingarde

We aren’t usually bringing an entire case of wine with us on a trip, so the foam inserts come out of one side and clothes goes in.

[B_Davies]

Glad to see a good consensus on Vingardevalise. I’ve had a few on my Amazon list for a while just not a whole lot of good information/reviews compared to the normal consumer products I’m interested in.

I suppose I’ll wait until next Black Friday and see if they’ll offer since our international travel plans have been postponed. We may end up in California next year to visit family, so I could justify picking up a suitcase when we book our tickets.

[Carter_Pelham]

Glad to see a good consensus on Vingardevalise. I’ve had a few on my Amazon list for a while just not a whole lot of good information/reviews compared to the normal consumer products I’m interested in.

I suppose I’ll wait until next Black Friday and see if they’ll offer since our international travel plans have been postponed. We may end up in California next year to visit family, so I could justify picking up a suitcase when we book our tickets.

If you go to Napa/Sonoma, you can just pick up a WineCheck from them or a participating winery for like $75. Assuming you have a free checked bag this is an amazing deal. You only have to deal with it 1 leg of the trip and the cost is around what it costs to ship a case.

[EvanLodes]

I have the CasePro (which is similar to the Pelican) hardshell case for 12 bottles. Before having a kid and the associated (literal) baggage, I never checked luggage on planes so never considered this seriously, but now I really enjoy it and use it often when traveling. Some of the larger girth bottles (esp. some Champagnes) are very tight in the high density polyethylene foam, but overall it works pretty well.

[Adam_For]

depends on where I am going and the quality of the wine. Don’t think the suitcase is worth it IMO.

[B_Davies]

Glad to see a good consensus on Vingardevalise. I’ve had a few on my Amazon list for a while just not a whole lot of good information/reviews compared to the normal consumer products I’m interested in.

I suppose I’ll wait until next Black Friday and see if they’ll offer since our international travel plans have been postponed. We may end up in California next year to visit family, so I could justify picking up a suitcase when we book our tickets.

If you go to Napa/Sonoma, you can just pick up a WineCheck from them or a participating winery for like $75. Assuming you have a free checked bag this is an amazing deal. You only have to deal with it 1 leg of the trip and the cost is around what it costs to ship a case.

We do get 1 free checked bag either because of AMEX or United mileage plus status. Thanks for the tip!

[David_Patte]

Another VinGarde user. Worked well on our trip to Sonoma in October. The only issue was weight. 12 bottles put us well over 50lbs. What’s nice about the VinGarde is that the inserts can be removed. Next time I’d probably use half for wine and the other half as a regular suit case for clothes.

This is the one I use as well. Works really well, built to last, and it’s easy to transform into a regular suitcase, as needed. But yes, I agree that 12 red wine bottles will put the overall weight at over 50 pounds (and I found that out the hard way at the airport the first time I used it— and now carefully weigh before heading out). So it’s more realistic to think about transporting 10 or 11 bottles at a time, depending on the glass weights.

[B_Davies]

I have the CasePro (which is similar to the Pelican) hardshell case for 12 bottles. Before having a kid and the associated (literal) baggage, I never checked luggage on planes so never considered this seriously, but now I really enjoy it and use it often when traveling. Some of the larger girth bottles (esp. some Champagnes) are very tight in the high density polyethylene foam, but overall it works pretty well.

For me to lug around a wine case I’d really need it to hold 12 standard bottles. Since I’m ITB I’d probably use it to pick up small producers not yet on the East coast.

[Michael_O_Brien]

I have owned a VinGardeValise since version 1 was released. My older versions are long gone; donated as luggage to non wine drinking friends that needed suitcases. For a short time during the pandemic VinGardeValise was having flash sales at 50% off. I bought 2 of the latest version. On one occasion they threw in the “do it yourself” insert for free. I gave an old version 3 - 12 bottle case to my daughter along with the “do it yourself” insert. They travel to Mexico frequently and always come back with Tequila, Mescal, Raicilla, or Sotol. Some of those bottles are irregularly shaped so the “do it yourself insert” works well for them. I also have an 8 bottle version that I bought in a flash sale. I use it for short hauls. I have traveled with the 12 bottle version with one side left for clothes. I have never had a breakage since owning my first case in 2014.

[Michael_O_Brien]

Another VinGarde user. Worked well on our trip to Sonoma in October. The only issue was weight. 12 bottles put us well over 50lbs. What’s nice about the VinGarde is that the inserts can be removed. Next time I’d probably use half for wine and the other half as a regular suit case for clothes.

This is the one I use as well. Works really well, built to last, and it’s easy to transform into a regular suitcase, as needed. But yes, I agree that 12 red wine bottles will put the overall weight at over 50 pounds (and I found that out the hard way at the airport the first time I used it— and now carefully weigh before heading out). So it’s more realistic to think about transporting 10 or 11 bottles at a time, depending on the glass weights.

If I am carrying standard weight Bordeaux bottles, my case has never been overweight. But if I am loaded up with heavier bottles and want to stay under 50lbs, I have to travel with only 10 or 11 bottles. Also, if all the bottles are wide bottles, I cannot get 12 bottles into my case but that rarely happens. There are some bottles that are so wide that they won’t fit in the standard inserts. The heaviest my case has ever weighed was returning from Mendoza with 12 heavy bottles averaging 4.5lbs per bottle. The case weighed 67lbs. The weight limit for business class is 70lbs so other than lifting the bag onto the scale to be weighed, no problem.