One of the photos on Max’s site shows them stacked eight high. Weinbox - The Best Wine Storage Solution – Kogod Wine Merchant
TLDR: I wish I’d known about these years ago. If you’re using cardboard boxes for storage, I think these are a good replacement. If you’re using something else (e.g. tubes), maybe not.
I assembled these and put them in my locker today. Overall, I’m very happy with them as a replacement for the standard 12 bottle boxes I was using before, and I’m going to order a few more.
I found them to easily fit 12 bottles of various sizes including riesling, Champagne, syrah, etc. I’m not sure what it would be like if you had 12 really fat bottles in one; I didn’t try that. But I didn’t run into any situations where I couldn’t fit everything from the cardboard box into the weinbox. In some cases it’s probably possible to fit an additional small bottle or two (e.g. 375s) in beyond the 12. As Robert mentioned, sometimes they bulge on the sides a bit. But it doesn’t seem to affect the stability noticeably, and I found that if I push the sides in as I stack them, they stay straight.
I have them stacked four high in my locker (the max I can fit) and the stack feels extremely stable. To the point that I actually was moving stacks of four around just by sliding them on the floor (much lower friction than cardboard). I don’t think it really matters if they’re full or not. The stability comes from the structure, not the bottles (though I suppose if the stack were top heavy that might be a problem for moving them). They have a good spot for a label on the end. The labels I use are a little too large to fit perfectly on the side but I made it work.
The ends do open so you can access the bottles without unstacking it, but I wouldn’t say that’s super convenient. You could end up having to pull a lot out to get what you need. You’d have the same problem even accessing it from the top; if you need something on the bottom, you’ll have to pull everything out. I don’t really use these for frequent one-by-one access (that stuff is in my Le Cache at home) so it’s not a major issue, but it’s something to keep in mind. For my setup, it’s still and improvement over the cardboard boxes since I had to unstack those (and keep pulling out bottles until I figured out which was the one I was looking for).
Anyway, these are a winner for me and the way I use my locker. Some pictures below:
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Thanks for reporting back! Glad they worked. It’s an interesting concept.
I just got some for my locker. Works great except with certain fatter burgundy bottles, the stack of 12 is too tall for another weinbox to fit over it without sitting on the bottles.
Interesting. I can see that. I don’t have any boxes that are completely made up of fat bottles (the fat bottles I have are mixed in with skinnier ones).
Thanks for sharing, interesting concept. I’ve used standard tupperware crates for overflow for years. They stack well, hold up well, and hold a lot, but are far from ideal to find something, so its mainly to “bury” things that shouldn’t be touched anyway. This looks like a more elegant solution.
I could do some rearranging. Even 4 bottles of Fourrier or Mugnier seem to make it too tall, but those were just put into the exposed, top box.
I would say, I’m not sure how easy it would be to pull the bottom bottle at the back of the box from the front flap, it’s pretty tight in there! But not the end of the world.
I just want a box that can hold my champagne for aging.
also, what is the cost? The prices I see are over $100+ for each box. That is freakin insane.
$15 per box I believe.
Yeah, about $15 each (plus shipping). Which is about 2X what I paid last time I bought cardboard boxes. Seems more than worth it to me. I’m not sure where you’re seeing them for $100+, but don’t buy them there…
Mine came in this week, and got around to assembling them yesterday morning - took a few minutes for my wine-addled brain to figure out how everything fit together, the same issue I have with anything bought from Ikea. But it went quickly once I got the hang of it.
Works pretty much as advertised - lighter than expected from the pictures, but still sturdy and stacks well. Fit all my bottles, with a slight bulge in the side as noted above that was remedied easily.
Also as noted above, despite the side access, it won’t be easy to pull a single bottle out from the bottom. But I’m using most of them to store either full cases, or wine for aging with the youngest at the bottom, so don’t see that as a problem at all.
It does make me a bit nervous having the wines just sit on top of each other, with no cushioning between them. Understand that is no different than having bottles stacked in a bin, but it somehow seems different - maybe because the weinboxes are movable. So going to look for some thin packing material to insert and see if everything still fits.
All in all a solid purchase, will buy more once these are filled.
Thanks for all the data points. Ordered some yesterday evening to get rid of my styro shipper storage.
Exactly - I’d be interested if it was stackable racking at $15 per case, seems feasible to me.
I put these around bottles even in lay-flat boxes with dividers:
Case of 400 at less than 10 cents each can be found at https://www.amazon.com/Mesh-Bottle-Sleeves-Case-400/dp/B00SNG1S3Q
thanks - just ordered some, looks like exactly what I need
How do these do with turley bottle? I find them impossible to stack and store
Fourteen Turley’s fit perfectly in a standard Bordeaux box.
that is good to know thanks
I only have a couple of bottles of Turley. They fit fine mixed in with other stuff, but 12 might be a challenge (a complete guess since I can’t try it).
I joined the crowd and ordered a batch. They stack very solidly, even having notches cut in the top rim that match tabs around the base. I may mount one on casters to serve as the base of a mobile stack.
FYI, the top layer of Turley bottles just pop over the top of the bin, so 12 will only really fit in the open bin at the top of a stack. While I haven’t tested it, I think getting the third layer in there at all might be impossible if you’re using the hatch on the front.
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