Are there any current opinions on wine luggage. The three that seem to have nice reviews are Winecruzer, winecheck and VinGardeValise. In particular I am wondering if one can handle hot weather better. I want one to use in July on a Trip to Spain and Italy. I think about it sitting in the sun while waiting to be loaded into a plane or delay and how quickly it might heat up.
Since there are so many sales this weekend nd during the holidays, I thought I would be prepared to purchase. Looking for 8 bottle capacity.
Sitting in the sun won’t be good for any of them. I’ve taken styro shippers many times. In Spain in the summer. If the Winecheck fits around a styro shipper, you’re OK. I just used a regular box most of the time though. And sometimes the Wine Cruzer, but without the insert. Just buy the Pelican case and you can wrap your bottles in bubble wrap.
I flew from LA to the east coast this summer and it was well over 100 degrees when we left. I wasn’t bringing anything particularly expensive but with the wine check the wine was cool to the touch when we landed (direct flight) for what it’s worth, and the bottles I’ve had from that wine check have been great.
My winecheck flew from CA to Maui, Hawaii. It was supposed to come to Oahu.Redelivered to us in Kailua Oahu probably 8-10 hours later. A dozen bots in the styrofoam 12 pack cold to the touch. My experience.
Cool to the touch because it was in the luggage section and that’s a lot cooler than the passenger section. It’s why I don’t mind checking wine. As long as you don’t cook it on the trip to the airport, you will probably be OK. And if you can get one of the styro shippers with slots for freezer packs, even better.
I guess it depends on the type of foam in Pelican cases. Looks like Polyethylene foam (but I could be wrong). Its slightly worse R value than extruded Styrofoam, but alot would depend on the thickness, and the fact that pelican cases are plastic vs the cardboard in a shipper for the winecheck. Plus the sealed Pelican would have less air mass transfer. Honestly, I don’t think it matters. Just get one thats light colored in case its sitting in a truck on the tarmac.
To me its the weight issue and the # of bottles that are more important.
I think the foam in the Pelican case has pretty minimal insulation and agree that you’re mainly relying on minimal time on the tarmac, the low temperature of the cargo hold, and the heat capacity (thermal mass) of the wine and bottles.