The best memories of wine travel vacations come when that first bottle of wine is opened at holiday time with friends and family— and, it’s perfect!
But that doesn’t always happen because the journey from winery to home cellar typically has to go through airports, and that means checking wine in at the airport (unless of course you choose to ship your wine through trucks, trains, and common carriers who treat it like deadwood).
The best way to safely and securely get your wine on and off a plane is by taking it with you and checking it in as luggage.
And it’s a lot easier than many think if you have the right kind of luggage to safely and securely protect your wine, such as a wine travel bag.
I just returned from 12 days in Italy and Germany visiting wineries and bringing home some precious bounty for the holidays.
I had some amazing wines from Castello di Magione in Umbria that were dying to find their way into my luggage on the homeward journey. The winery and underground cellars sit underneath a 900 year old (+/-) castle right off the boundary between Umbria and Tuscany.
And most of the wines can’t be found anywhere in the U.S. unless you are lucky enough to find the few that are on a wine list at the right restaurant.
So that’s where my wine lugage called FlyWithWine VinGarde® Valise came in handy.
I loaded up on Sangiovese, Italian Merlot, and Grechetto and headed back to my hotel and then on to the airport, where checking my wine in was as easy as pie. All I had to do was fill my specially designed suitcase with wine at the hotel, put it in the trunk of the taxi, take it out of the taxi at the airport, and easily roll it in to the check-in counters of Air Canada.
I checked it in as regular luggage with no extra charge, and was confident that my wine would arrive at SFO baggage claim the same way I checked it in. And it did.
I celebrated that night with a bottle of Tignanello I brought back with me from Florence, that tasted every bit as good as it did at the Antinori Winery where I bought it.
In fact, even better!
So next time, don’t be shy, take your wine with you and check it in with your wine travel suitcase!
Ron Scharman
This guest post was written by Ron Scharman of FlyWithWine exclusively for Social Vignerons.
Fly With Wine is an indestructible hard-shell wine suitcase designed to carry wines and beverage bottles, and glasses safely and securely.
Correction: Post originally tagged as VinGardeValise®, but is actually FlyWithWine.
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