My First Wine Bottle Disaster
My first wine bottle disaster was with a bottle of spirits which broke and leaked. My clothes smelled of spirits and were stained. The moral of the story is, always encase bottles in something leak-proof. Always encase clothes in something leakproof.
If I carry long boots in a suitcase, I put a bottle inside a boot. Those were the days when you could only bring into the UK one bottle of wine and one of spirits per person. But what if you have more than one bottle?
When you order bottles of wine from a company on line, they may deliver bottles in protection which, if cut apart carefully and stored, can be re-used.
Broken Bottles
Our worst experience was at an airport. Our red wine bottles got banged. They broke. Two red fountains of wine poured, like taps, out of each side. We raced about like ninnies, with towels, then paper towels from toilets, mopping up. Bits of glass, carried gingerly, were deposited into nearby bins.
Nobody helped. But nobody hindered. Nobody else noticed nor cared.
Luckily most of my clothes are wine-coloured. I avoid wearing white. I buy and drink white wine in preference to red.
There's a good reason for drinking champagne at weddings. The bride, groom and guests should do so, out of consideration for the bride's expensive white dress.
If you are carrying a lot of wines, including expensive wines, you won't want bottles in plastic supermarket bags, banging around, getting left behind and muddled up with other people's bags.
What Could Go Wrong?
You could forget your duty free bag and leave it behind on the plane - especially if your coat is moved to a different overhead locker.
The suitcase could be crushed or jolted. The banging could break the glass. The shaking could make the bubbles explode the cork out of the bottle. The changing pressure could make the cork leak.
Bottles do leak. I've seen bottles leak in wine fridges, all down the other bottles, making a mess, spoiling labels. You don't want to lose precious wine, spoiling the look of a bottle which could have been given to somebody as a birthday present.
Along comes the magic of a specially designed and removal interior for a special size suitcase.
One Bottle Picnic Carrier
You can buy devices carrying one bottle plus a corkscrew and sometimes wine or Champagne glasses from:
Department stores
Camping shops
Wine Shops
Wine Museum shops
Vineyard and tour shops.
Photos by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.
On Amazon I found a similar one:
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Wine Travel Case with Two Glasses - Wine Bottle & Stemware Tote Bag by WineUltra.com
Available from these sellers.
At £165 to carry one bottle, plus £4.48 shipping !
A suitcase costing £300+ carrying six or more bottles sounds like a bargain.
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However, If found a similar item on ebay for £4.99 plus postage of £3.99. A Lazenne 12 bottle carrier.
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A single bottle wooden presentation pack containing a bottle opener from German on ebay for bids at under £5 but £16 postage.
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A suitcase for 6 bottles at £29.30 with free post and packing.
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A suitcase costing £300+ carrying six or more bottles sounds like a bargain.
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However, If found a similar item on ebay for £4.99 plus postage of £3.99. A Lazenne 12 bottle carrier.
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A single bottle wooden presentation pack containing a bottle opener from German on ebay for bids at under £5 but £16 postage.
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A suitcase for 6 bottles at £29.30 with free post and packing.
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Magic search words include:
Wine travel protector.
Picnic backpack
Picknick backpack
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From Amazon: An anti shock glass bottle packaging bag by Mono Deal, (I inserted space against spell checker) cost about £10 but not re-usable, meaning, according to the reviewers, that you could not deflate them, but you can re-use them inflated.
Users struggled to find the inflation slot. Some said the holder would only fit a wine bottle, not a larger or odd shaped gin bottle.
You can also use them for transporting bottles of oil or vinegar.
You can buy 2, 3 or 4 pack wine bottle holders, like a double plastic sock for around £10.
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From John Lewis, similar to mine, but mine had space for one bottle, insulated with interior silver colour lining, with glasses the other side, padded but not so well insulated - though you could remove the glasses and replace them with a bottle.
John Lewis Croft Collection version for two bottles about £20. They deliver as far away as Australia and all over the world.
Wine suitcases
You can buy a wine carrying suitcase to keep wines cool and protected from breakage, loss and theft.
I looked at a small one at a wine show. I thought, that's small enough to carry home. Small enough to hide until the next birthday or Christmas. Then I heard the price.
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For postage, this offer of packaging:
https://www.ukpackaging.com/bottle-postal-boxes-pulp-bottle-pack-single-box-of-5
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A wine suitcases costs about £300 or more, depending on the size of case and number of bottles. The interior compartments can be removed.
You can see them at wine shows and events. They are used by people in the wine business and are presumably a business expense.
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The brand names for the one bottle skins include:
Wineskin;
Wine Wings.
USEFUL WEBSITES
https://vingardevalise.com
www.johnlewis.com
www.winerist.com
www.winecruzer.com
www.carpe-travel.com
https://www.ukpackaging.com
www.wineultra.com
www.amazon.com
www.ebay.com
https://lazenne.com/collections/wine-check-luggage-combos (Free wine skin added to your order if I signed up - and ordered within 7 days.)
Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Please bookmark and share links to your favourite posts.
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