Anyone using Weinboxes?

[Tom_G_l_a_s_g_o_w]

after reading through this thread (which was very helpful!) i finally went ahead and placed an initial order of 30 weinboxen (via amazon) and deployed them today. fwiw, it took me maybe an hour to unpack and assemble 30 weinboxen.

mostly i am positive, but i was surprised at how many of my morgons and burgandies would only fit anywhere from 8-11 bottles, with 12 bottles per weinbox being the exception. i think it is probably still more space efficient (and aesthetically pleasing) than the mishmash of boxes i previously had, but having to let go of thinking in a single “base” per box was a bit discombobulating. i guess i wish they were sized slightly larger so that even slightly “fat” bottles would consistently fit 12 bottles per box, but still think it is worthwhile.

thanks to everyone who shared their experiences!

It’s a German concept of proper wine storage. German wines fit quite well, unlike 19 out of 20 boxes.

[Eric_Michels]

after reading through this thread (which was very helpful!) i finally went ahead and placed an initial order of 30 weinboxen (via amazon) and deployed them today. fwiw, it took me maybe an hour to unpack and assemble 30 weinboxen.

mostly i am positive, but i was surprised at how many of my morgons and burgandies would only fit anywhere from 8-11 bottles, with 12 bottles per weinbox being the exception. i think it is probably still more space efficient (and aesthetically pleasing) than the mishmash of boxes i previously had, but having to let go of thinking in a single “base” per box was a bit discombobulating. i guess i wish they were sized slightly larger so that even slightly “fat” bottles would consistently fit 12 bottles per box, but still think it is worthwhile.

thanks to everyone who shared their experiences!

That’s an interesting result. I currently have 78 in use and I have only encountered one case where 12 bottles did not fit completely. In that case, 12 bottles still fit fine but they sat too high for box stacked on top to fully engage. I have simply had to keep that box on the top of a stack. More often there has been enough extra space that I have considered adding four bottles for a total of 16. However, each time I have concluded that the extra weight hasn’t been worth it). Obviously we must have a different representative mix of regions/producers (my cellar is largely US/Italian/German/Champagne) as I haven’t really encountered this problem at all.

[JBrochu]

after reading through this thread (which was very helpful!) i finally went ahead and placed an initial order of 30 weinboxen (via amazon) and deployed them today. fwiw, it took me maybe an hour to unpack and assemble 30 weinboxen.

mostly i am positive, but i was surprised at how many of my morgons and burgandies would only fit anywhere from 8-11 bottles, with 12 bottles per weinbox being the exception. i think it is probably still more space efficient (and aesthetically pleasing) than the mishmash of boxes i previously had, but having to let go of thinking in a single “base” per box was a bit discombobulating. i guess i wish they were sized slightly larger so that even slightly “fat” bottles would consistently fit 12 bottles per box, but still think it is worthwhile.

thanks to everyone who shared their experiences!

That’s an interesting result. I currently have 78 in use and I have only encountered one case where 12 bottles did not fit completely. In that case, 12 bottles still fit fine but they sat too high for box stacked on top to fully engage. I have simply had to keep that box on the top of a stack. More often there has been enough extra space that I have considered adding four bottles for a total of 16. However, each time I have concluded that the extra weight hasn’t been worth it). Obviously we must have a different representative mix of regions/producers (my cellar is largely US/Italian/German/Champagne) as I haven’t really encountered this problem at all.

This is almost exactly my experience, except I have only about 50 in use. But also only 1 where the bottles stacked too high with 12 so that the box on top was wobbly.

[Carter_Pelham]

Couple questions on Instacrate

1. Can they be stacked? If so, how high?
2. Can wine bottles be accessed from stacked instacrates?

I went with instacrates for my offsite storage. I have a half height locker so I can only comfortably stack 2. They “can” be stacked higher but I wouldn’t feel great about it.

Wine bottles cannot be accessed from stacked instacrates.

You can get easily 18+ bottles in 1 instacrate but I stick to about 12 to feel better about them not giving out and also for carrying around purposes.

I would not use this solution in an earthquake zone. But they are 10 dollars at costco and EXTREMELY easy to transport.

[Ian_Dorin]

Bump

My offsite locker is ~42” cube.
I do see that Domaine is opening a facility in south FL so I might be able to pick up Weinboxes and save on shipping.

Are Weinboxes still my best option? Right now I’m using a mix of regular cardboard cases and higher quality (but bulkier) cases from my storage facility. I choose maximum storage capacity over ease of access; I have Eurocaves for ready-to-drink bottles.

Side note, we are now open in Pompano Beach!

PM if you want the warehouse managers info.

[Chris_Crutchfield]

Couple questions on Instacrate

1. Can they be stacked? If so, how high?
2. Can wine bottles be accessed from stacked instacrates?

I went with instacrates for my offsite storage. I have a half height locker so I can only comfortably stack 2. They “can” be stacked higher but I wouldn’t feel great about it.

Wine bottles cannot be accessed from stacked instacrates.

You can get easily 18+ bottles in 1 instacrate but I stick to about 12 to feel better about them not giving out and also for carrying around purposes.

I would not use this solution in an earthquake zone. But they are 10 dollars at costco and EXTREMELY easy to transport.

I regularly fit 22ish Bordeaux bottles into an instacrate. It’s probably not suitable for carrying around but it seems sturdy enough for sliding in and out on the rack I have it on. Bought them on sale for I think $8 each, they are surprisingly solid.

[jory_bell]

after reading through this thread (which was very helpful!) i finally went ahead and placed an initial order of 30 weinboxen (via amazon) and deployed them today. fwiw, it took me maybe an hour to unpack and assemble 30 weinboxen.

mostly i am positive, but i was surprised at how many of my morgons and burgandies would only fit anywhere from 8-11 bottles, with 12 bottles per weinbox being the exception. i think it is probably still more space efficient (and aesthetically pleasing) than the mishmash of boxes i previously had, but having to let go of thinking in a single “base” per box was a bit discombobulating. i guess i wish they were sized slightly larger so that even slightly “fat” bottles would consistently fit 12 bottles per box, but still think it is worthwhile.

thanks to everyone who shared their experiences!

That’s an interesting result. I currently have 78 in use and I have only encountered one case where 12 bottles did not fit completely. In that case, 12 bottles still fit fine but they sat too high for box stacked on top to fully engage. I have simply had to keep that box on the top of a stack. More often there has been enough extra space that I have considered adding four bottles for a total of 16. However, each time I have concluded that the extra weight hasn’t been worth it). Obviously we must have a different representative mix of regions/producers (my cellar is largely US/Italian/German/Champagne) as I haven’t really encountered this problem at all.

This is almost exactly my experience, except I have only about 50 in use. But also only 1 where the bottles stacked too high with 12 so that the box on top was wobbly.

here is my rough experience (# bottles / weinbox) of wines that could comprise full cases in my first 30 weinboxen:

foillard — athanor — 9
foillard — cuvee 3.14 — 10
foulard — elles nadine & agnes — 12
foillard — cote du py — 11
pierre-yves colin-morey — misc — 10
alain hudelot-noellat — misc — 12
benjamin leroux — misc — 12 (but tight)

[Carter_Pelham]

Couple questions on Instacrate

1. Can they be stacked? If so, how high?
2. Can wine bottles be accessed from stacked instacrates?

I went with instacrates for my offsite storage. I have a half height locker so I can only comfortably stack 2. They “can” be stacked higher but I wouldn’t feel great about it.

Wine bottles cannot be accessed from stacked instacrates.

You can get easily 18+ bottles in 1 instacrate but I stick to about 12 to feel better about them not giving out and also for carrying around purposes.

I would not use this solution in an earthquake zone. But they are 10 dollars at costco and EXTREMELY easy to transport.

I regularly fit 22ish Bordeaux bottles into an instacrate. It’s probably not suitable for carrying around but it seems sturdy enough for sliding in and out on the rack I have it on. Bought them on sale for I think $8 each, they are surprisingly solid.

I think if I had them on racks I would load them up more for sure. But with me stacking crates directly on crates I didn’t want a huge load particularly in the top ones.

[JBrochu]

That’s an interesting result. I currently have 78 in use and I have only encountered one case where 12 bottles did not fit completely. In that case, 12 bottles still fit fine but they sat too high for box stacked on top to fully engage. I have simply had to keep that box on the top of a stack. More often there has been enough extra space that I have considered adding four bottles for a total of 16. However, each time I have concluded that the extra weight hasn’t been worth it). Obviously we must have a different representative mix of regions/producers (my cellar is largely US/Italian/German/Champagne) as I haven’t really encountered this problem at all.

This is almost exactly my experience, except I have only about 50 in use. But also only 1 where the bottles stacked too high with 12 so that the box on top was wobbly.

here is my rough experience (# bottles / weinbox) of wines that could comprise full cases in my first 30 weinboxen:

foillard — athanor — 9
foillard — cuvee 3.14 — 10
foulard — elles nadine & agnes — 12
foillard — cote du py — 11
pierre-yves colin-morey — misc — 10
alain hudelot-noellat — misc — 12
benjamin leroux — misc — 12 (but tight)

I usually purchase in 3’s and 4’s, which probably results in the larger bottles naturally being mixed in with the smaller bottles. It makes sense if you are trying to fill crates with like 12 of the same producer, that you would have trouble with the producers using large bottles. I think we’ve cracked the case!

[Patrick_Taylor]

Dang, these have gotten expensive. Kogod is currently $30/box (no minimum), and Domaine is $24/box (9 box minimum). Do these ever go on sale?

[Rodrigo_B]

Dang, these have gotten expensive. Kogod is currently $30/box (no minimum), and Domaine is $24/box (9 box minimum). Do these ever go on sale?

Domaine used to offer them at $20/box until September of last year. When I ordered more in October, I noticed they raised their prices to the current $24/weinbox. I was told it was in part a supply chain issue. You should be able to purchase from Domaine in increments of 3, so 3, 6 or 9 weinboxes. Never seen Domaine offer these on sale. There is the occasional Berserker looking to sell them though, which is often cheaper

[Tariq_K]

So after reading all of the posts on this thread multiple times, I decided to take the plunge and purchase Weinboxes (Weinboxen?). Thanks to everyone for their ideas! And I’d like to share my solution to a tricky issue.

I have an offsite temperature controlled storage unit that previously was an unholy mess of cardboard boxes, with the lower ones generally inaccessible unless I was looking for a second workout on a given day.

This is the disaster that was my cellar previously. Can you see how impossible it is to manage this? God forbid you want something in case 30.

So, I bought Weinboxes. Turns out, I had no problem fitting 12 bottles in each one. And I can now assemble one in less than a minute. But the key issue for me was the fact that while I could fill the back of my storage unit with Weinboxes, what about the sides and the front? And how could I access the ones in the back?

Well, I came up with the idea of putting additional stacks on rolling platforms. I ordered these from Amazon and they have a 400 lb load rating. So now I have mobile stacks, more space than I ever had before, and, critically, the ability to access wines at the bottom. Who knows what’s lurking down there?

Here’s what it looks like when they are all rolled into the storage unit.

So now everything is accessible, there is plenty of space, and there’s extra room for new arrivals. Great stuff, and Domaine was excellent to order from. Just wanted to share my solution! Hope this helps someone.

[Tom_G_l_a_s_g_o_w]

So after reading all of the posts on this thread multiple times, I decided to take the plunge and purchase Weinboxes (Weinboxen?). Thanks to everyone for their ideas! And I’d like to share my solution to a tricky issue.

I have an offsite temperature controlled storage unit that previously was an unholy mess of cardboard boxes, with the lower ones generally inaccessible unless I was looking for a second workout on a given day.

This is the disaster that was my cellar previously. Can you see how impossible it is to manage this? God forbid you want something in case 30.

5DFD57EC-10D6-4092-AB16-D24EA5802A2B_1_105_c.jpeg

So, I bought Weinboxes. Turns out, I had no problem fitting 12 bottles in each one. And I can now assemble one in less than a minute. But the key issue for me was the fact that while I could fill the back of my storage unit with Weinboxes, what about the sides and the front? And how could I access the ones in the back?

Well, I came up with the idea of putting additional stacks on rolling platforms. I ordered these from Amazon and they have a 400 lb load rating. So now I have mobile stacks, more space than I ever had before, and, critically, the ability to access wines at the bottom. Who knows what’s lurking down there?


64BA3A47-BBFF-4CC0-ABD7-9C36600B68AD.jpeg


Here’s what it looks like when they are all rolled into the storage unit.


DBF2A36F-AB35-437F-B620-8FE977A59F04.jpeg




So now everything is accessible, there is plenty of space, and there’s extra room for new arrivals. Great stuff, and Domaine was excellent to order from. Just wanted to share my solution! Hope this helps someone.

You have no idea what a disorganized cellar looks like.

[David_K2]

Nicely done Tariq, I did something similar with Weinboxes and the rolling platforms which is really key to moving them around.

For anyone in the Boston area who is looking for these, I actually made some changes to the cellar and have probably 15 Weinboxes I no longer need that I would sell at a discount to new. Thinking of posting them on CC soon. Let me know if interested.

[Rodrigo_B]

Looks awesome Tariq. My offsite locker is smaller. But I did something similar. I put up shelvings and put weinboxes in those. It makes me less worries about stacking them. It also allows me to overfill some weinboxes to 16-20 bottles instead of 12. Here are some pics. I also got a uboat cart to place cardboard cases and shove it in between the shelves when I’m not in there.

[JulianD]

Nicely done Tariq, I did something similar with Weinboxes and the rolling platforms which is really key to moving them around.

For anyone in the Boston area who is looking for these, I actually made some changes to the cellar and have probably 15 Weinboxes I no longer need that I would sell at a discount to new. Thinking of posting them on CC soon. Let me know if interested.

Only looking for Boston area? (No shipping?)

[David_K2]

Nicely done Tariq, I did something similar with Weinboxes and the rolling platforms which is really key to moving them around.

For anyone in the Boston area who is looking for these, I actually made some changes to the cellar and have probably 15 Weinboxes I no longer need that I would sell at a discount to new. Thinking of posting them on CC soon. Let me know if interested.

Only looking for Boston area? (No shipping?)

Right, would be a huge hassle and with the cost of shipping it wouldn’t even be worth it for either of us.

[Tariq_K]

You have no idea what a disorganized cellar looks like.

Please do share photos for my educational benefit

[Steve_Costigan]

One thing I didn’t anticipate and then realized when I introduced Weinboxes to off-site storage was the light. It’s a giant warehouse like place with industrial lighting and sees a lot of activity meaning that the lights are on probably most if not all the day when they are open. My cubby is exposed to the overhead lights. I improvised with some cardboard to block out most of the light getting on to my wine.

[Robert_M_yers]

My passive storage space is running out of room with all the styro boxes.

Is this still the best solution to create more room?
My storage is about as underground as you can get … 1/2 is earth/rock walls. Keeps it nice and cool but dirt and dust will be an issue. Thoughts on protecting labels?

Tips on where the best place to buy?

Anybody looking to sell some