It’s always nice to bring home a special bottle of wine when traveling. Or when visiting friends you may want to share some of the Exceptional craft wines you’ve brewed at Wine Butler… but how to pack wine so it survives the trip.
Put your worries to rest with this article from the Australian Business Traveller – ‘How to safely pack wine in your luggage‘.
Tip # 1: Don’t try to carry it on the plane with you.
Says ABT:
Frequent flyers will consider this to be a large glass of Bleeding Obvious 2006, but it’s easy for first-time travellers to overlook this, and end up leaving their Chateau Lafitte for the airport’s security people to drink.
And remember, if you’re making flight connections where you leave the “airside” (post-security) part of an airport and re-enter it for your next flight, you won’t even be able to bring duty-free wine through with you when you’re re-screened. (This happens, for example, when you connect from an international flight to a domestic flight at many airports.)
These days airport transport rules change often so before you travel, make sure you check with your airline and airport security.
Tip #2: Cushion and Contain
Says ABT:
Once you’ve decided to put wine in your luggage, there are two key things to consider: cushion the wine from the none-too-careful handling by bag handlers, and contain it in case the cushioning doesn’t work and a bottle breaks.
ABT suggests using a WineSkin – which is a special padded wine bottle-shaped wrapper most likely available at airports. If you don’t have a wine skin handy, wrap in many layers of plastic and seal with duct tape.
Tip #3: Use clothes that you aren’t that important to you
When carrying red wine, avoid wrapping it in clothes that you’d mind turning a lovely shade of Burgundy. And if you can, put all the clothes that you really care about in another suitcase or your carry-on.
Keep calm! Travel On!
The Wine Butler would like to remind all it’s customers, to always drink responsibly.