I’m relocating my family from SoCal to Charlotte (Lake Norman Area), NC next month. My relocation company doesn’t handle wine shipments, does anyone have recommendations for shipping companies to handle cross country moves? How about which boxes to buy for packing up the collection?
There are a bunch of previous threads on this. When I moved from Seattle to So Cal, I used Western Carriers. When I moved from So Cal to Tennessee, I used Domaine. Had good experiences with both, and would use either again in the future if I needed to. In both cases, I let them provide the packing materials and do the packing.
1 Like
It’s been many years, but I’ve used Western twice. Not cheap (but my company paid as part of the relocation), but no issues either.
Here’s a few threads. See:
https://www.wineberserkers.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=3019745
https://www.wineberserkers.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=2901675
https://www.wineberserkers.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=2318636
They moved our wine to New Mexico in 2010. No issues.
Vine Vault out of Atlanta does this. They often have trucks out in California as well. Climate controlled the whole way.
Important for sure this time a year!
Thank you all
I’m talking to them about an in state Florida move. Impressed so far with my interaction.
I had a great experience and pricing from The Wine Movers transporting from NYC Metro area (Northern NJ) to Charlotte, NC.
Contact info below:
Barbara Zak
TWM Transport LLC
561-252-4348 - Direct
800-965-1488 – Toll Free
800-965-1488 - FAX
barbara@thewinemover.com
For storage options in Charlotte proper (not exactly Lake Norman area), Cork Vault is fantastic. Bill Bounds runs it. Bill@CorkVault.com
2 Likes
A few months ago, my offsite sent 2 pallets by Advantage Trucking across country to auction for $600/pallet. Shipped when the weather was still cold. Not the fastest, but I wasn’t in a hurry.
One of my favorite threads of all time was a guy who used a shipping company and then shortly thereafter had strong feelings his wine was heat damaged… I wonder what happened to him…i cant recall if he used them for storage too beforehand but i definitely remember there was a relocation component.
Hi, best regards with the move!
In response to your original post about which boxes to use, I personally do prefer Uline’s Foam Wine Bottle Shippers - 12 Bottle Pack.
1 Like
Is it safe to assume that you will be moving wine which is significantly more fragile than Austin Hope or Belle Glos?
Obviously you could get a quote from Ryder or Penske on renting whatever would be their smallest reefer’ed van [although, in case you’ve been living in a cave for the last several years, the prices of diesel & gasoline are soaring, and apparently in some jurisdictions, there’s little if any diesel whatsoever].
You might also consider going to Craigslist & Facebook Marketplace and similar, and searching on strings such as “econoline reefer”, “e350 reefer”, “e450 reefer”, etc.
If you could find a van like that, with a quality air cooling system, then it might make sense to purchase the van; even if you purchased it for $6000, and sold it for $4000, it might be worth it.
I don’t know that UHaul offers anything as specialized as a van with a dedicated cooling unit, although I suppose there’s no reason you couldn’t just rent a regular UHaul van, turn the air-conditioner on max, and cross your fingers [although don’t be surprised if you get nasal/upper-respiratory yuckiness from having an A/C unit blowing in your face for a full week].
In addition to air conditioning, I’d be worrying about the sloshing & jostling of the wine; if these are exceptionally fine bottles [such as DRC/Coche/Roumier/Mugnier/etc], then they’ll need lots of bubble wrap, and it would help if the boxes were seat-belted onto a bench seat [the springs in a car/truck/SUV seat will absorb a large portion of all the vibrations which would otherwise be experienced by a box of wine lying directly on the floor of a truck or van or SUV].
If you rented a monster van [or a monster SUV], with maybe four or five bench seats, then you might be able to stack all of the wine directly on the bench seats, although you’d have to get a lot of strapping & webbing to hold the stacked boxes securely to the bench seats.
Again, the big question here is Austin-Hope/Bell-Glos versus DRC/Coche/Roumier/Mugnier, and whether it’s worth the hassle.
If nothing else, the entire project will be an outstanding learning experience in the phenomenon of “Economic Friction”.
BTW, speaking of friction, you’re gonna wanna read up on this sort of thing:
https://abc.nc.gov/StoresBoards/TransportationPermit
Especially if you have any sort of licensure [JD, MD, PharmD, RN, LPT, CPA, CFP, Paralegal, etc] which would be subject to revocation were you to commit an alcohol felony.
1 Like
I used Western Carriers for the move from the L.A. area to Oregon. Would definitely recommend them.
Along with Vine Vault, Vinum 55 also handles cross country moves. Some of us have had experience them their off-site storage and/or winery direct shipping they also do. They have been very professional with direct shipments and I expect they would be the same with moves.
This is an excellent point - I think it often gets lost when people are considering moves - whether you can legally move your cellar. Can you imagine having your wine confiscated during a move because of some paperwork?
You know, in defense of Austin Hope, if you were to run out of fuel in a jurisdiction which had neither gasoline nor diesel to sell you, then you could just open the Austin Hope, pour it in the fuel tank, and be on your merry way.
Works equally well for Piper Cubs & Gulfstreams.
In fact, SpaceX is now using Austin Hope to get the astronauts up to the space station and back.
Although if you wanna make the Kessel Run in less than twelve parsecs, then it’s recommended that you fill your tank with Austin Hope Reserve.
I used Wine by Air to move 30 cases from VT to CA.
They were very professional and the whole process was smooth and stress free.
If you talk to Mike at https://www.winebyairintl.com/ Just tell him I sent you
(Jean-Francois Pelletier)
Good luck!
JF
I used Wine by Air as well - about 30 cases.
Everything was great.
1 Like
Adam,
In Charlotte, Cork Vault is a commercial wine storage facility. They have shipments incoming as large as 250 cases every day. They also have much smaller shipments coming in regularly. I suggest you call them and talk with Bill; he may have some ideas that won’t break the bank.
Best, Jim
1 Like