Often times people don’t think about how they’re going to move their wine collection until they find out that their movers either will not move the collection, or they realize that moving a wine collection along with their personal items is risky. A moving truck will often reach temperatures well above 100 degrees as there is no ventilation or air-conditioning inside a moving truck.
Whether you choose The Wine Mover to move your collection or someone else, below are some simple steps to take to make the process a little easier for you.
Step 1: Take Inventory
Make a list of the bottles in your collection. You can download our Wine Inventory Sheet to use if you do not have one. You can also use the web site CellarTracker to keep an online inventory of your collection.
Step 2: Choose the Type of Wine Box
You have a few different options when it comes to boxes to pack your wine in:
Styrofoam Shippers: Used when shipping via overnight air delivery or cargo via commercial airlines. These boxes are durable and provide a small layer of insulation to protect the wine from temperature fluctuations (note they are not insulated, though). Their large size makes them less ideal for transporting on pallets in refrigerated trucks.
Double Wall: The preferred box for shipping in a refrigerated truck. The double walled construction and uniform size make these boxes ideal for transporting on pallets.
Original Wood Crate: Many top end wines come in wood crates (OWCs). These crates are extremely durable and are fine for shipping in a refrigerated truck but cannot be used when shipping via overnight air delivery or air cargo.
Retail Boxes: Retail wine boxes are not designed to be used as shippers. They are typically single wall construction and become very weak quickly. We do not suggest shipping your wine in retail boxes as there is no consistent size and therefore once on a pallet, the boxes overlap with each other causing strain on the box which could lead to damaged bottles. In addition, retail boxes cannot be used to ship via overnight air delivery or air cargo.
Step 3: Investigate Carriers
Not all carriers are qualified to transport wine. Your collection should be handled with the same care as any other refrigerated perishable food item. Shipping wine is unique; the proper temperature for wine is 55 degrees whereas normal refrigerated food, such as milk and eggs, are transported at 40 degrees. Be sure the carrier you use treats your precious wine cargo with the utmost care and maintains 55 degrees and not 40 degrees.
A special note on using FedEx or UPS. Neither FedEx nor UPS will knowingly ship wine, unless you have a special license from them. Even if it is your own personal collection and you are shipping to and from your personal residence.
View UPS Wine Shipping Policy
View FedEx Wine Shipping Policy
Step 4: Consider Insurance
Determine the value of your collection and ask the carrier about providing insurance beyond the minimal liability coverage for your wine collection.
Step 5: Check State Laws
Some states have restrictions on the amount of alcohol you are allowed to bring into the state. Chances are you will not have a problem unless you are bringing hundreds of cases into a state. Click here for links to the various Alcohol Beverage Control (ABC) Boards.
