Carrying bottles of Port when you travel by air

[Carl D]

Since it's illegal in the US for an individual to ship a bottle of wine to anyone, there are only a couple of ways to get a bottle from point A to point B: Pack it in your checked bag on a plane, or drive.

How do you pack bottles when you're putting them on a plane?

Have you ever had problems with bottles being broken/stolen/ruined in transit?

[Eric Menchen]

Last trip to Europe I took the styrofoam insert from a three bottle shipper with me. I put my bottles in that, taped it closed (to contain the wine if a bottle did break, and then put that in a plastic bag in the center of my suitcase. No problems. On my last trip to Porto, I brought back about 10 bottles equivalent of wine (some halves). Some bottles went into the wood 3-bottle cases from Noval, a lot were packed in newspaper, with plastic bags, padded by clothes ... On my next trip to Porto I hope to take a dedicated bottle shipping container. If I don't get one of those, I might just take a styrofoam insert 12 bottle box. With the weight limits these days the luggage container maxes out at 8 or 9 bottles. The box might get one or two more.

I've never had a bottle break in my luggage. Picking up luggage to go through customs at Newark someone else picking up their bag had a broken bottle of wine. I could smell it before my bag came out and I was worried, but my bag was fine.

[Andy Velebil]

Since it's illegal in the US for an individual to ship a bottle of wine to anyone

Actually, that's not totally true. It depends on what state you live in and where you are shipping it to. I can sell and ship wine up to a certain amount, say within California, without drawing the ire of the TTB. However, there is a fine line until the TTB comes after you as what happened many years ago on Wine Commune. I know the TTB went after many people who regularly sold bottles on that site and made them spend the money to buy a license to sell, after which all was ok. Basically they just wanted the money from those people buying a license. But you shouldn't have any issues if you are just shipping a few bottles to friends, so long as the state* you're shipping from and to allows it and the person receiving it is over the legal limit.

*Or local county if it is a dry county.

[Andy Velebil]

Last trip to Europe I took the styrofoam insert from a three bottle shipper with me. I put my bottles in that, taped it closed (to contain the wine if a bottle did break, and then put that in a plastic bag in the center of my suitcase. No problems. On my last trip to Porto, I brought back about 10 bottles equivalent of wine (some halves). Some bottles went into the wood 3-bottle cases from Noval, a lot were packed in newspaper, with plastic bags, padded by clothes ... On my next trip to Porto I hope to take a dedicated bottle shipping container. If I don't get one of those, I might just take a styrofoam insert 12 bottle box. With the weight limits these days the luggage container maxes out at 8 or 9 bottles. The box might get one or two more.

I've never had a bottle break in my luggage. Picking up luggage to go through customs at Newark someone else picking up their bag had a broken bottle of wine. I could smell it before my bag came out and I was worried, but my bag was fine.

Basically the same. I use the Styro shippers and so far (knock on wood) haven't had any issues. This Wine Check shipper is awesome and worth every penny. I love to fly with it and the extra padding helps keep things secure*. http://www.thewinecheck.com/

When flying I always declare what it is when asked and have basically have had no issues.

I will warn you that some places, like Canada, regulate how much alcohol can be brought in without being taxed, sometimes quite heavily taxed. So do check each countries laws before you land there.

*Disclaimer: No financial interest other than a very happy customer who bought one and has used it several times and loves it.

[Glenn E.]

I have an 8-bottle Wine Cruzer that I take with me whenever I go to Portugal, because I know I'll be bringing back at least that many bottles. Wine Cruzers are some of the most rugged luggage that I've ever seen, but they're also on the heavy side due to that ruggedness. I think mine weighs nearly 20 lbs empty. Conveniently, it's just under 50 lbs when full of wine bottles so it sneaks in under US airlines' weight restrictions.

I also have a small carrying case that holds 2 bottles in liquid-proof pouches. It also provides them with some padding, but not by any means as much as my wine suitcase. That carrying case is really intended more for taking bottles to a friend's house or something similar, but I've used it to help pad bottles which I've then wrapped in several layers of clothing and and packed in the center of my suitcase.

I've also simply wrapped a bottle in many layers of clothing and packed that in my suitcase as isolated from the edges as I possibly can. The important packing at that point becomes the top and bottom of the bottle because those are the more likely impact points for a hard jolt. I don't use this method for rare or expensive bottles, but it's worked fine for many a "normal" bottle of Port in the past. Also Irish Whisky.

At any rate, I have never had a problem with any of these methods. I think that airline abuse of luggage is a bit over-hyped. It does happen, but realistically it's extremely rare.

Losing your luggage on the other hand... well let's just say that Roy's luggage making it to its destination is about as common as a un-corked bottle of 1983 Cockburn VP.

[Carl D]

I have an 8-bottle Wine Cruzer that I take with me whenever I go to Portugal, because I know I'll be bringing back at least that many bottles...

I was looking at those WineCruzers yesterday - from the pictures, they look like Pelican cases with custom interiors. There's also these: http://www.winebottlecases.com/ which I'm sure are Pelican cases with custom interiors.

I'm glad to hear the good experiences people have had, and more suprised than I should be that there are a variety of very durable wine transport cases out there. It makes the prospect of flying somewhere to acquire an expensive bottle a bit less scarey!

[Moses Botbol]

Since it's illegal in the US for an individual to ship a bottle of wine to anyone

Actually, that's not totally true. It depends on what state you live in and where you are shipping it to.

When in doubt, I only ship apple juice.

[Carl D]

Since it's illegal in the US for an individual to ship a bottle of wine to anyone

Actually, that's not totally true. It depends on what state you live in and where you are shipping it to. I can sell and ship wine up to a certain amount, say within California, without drawing the ire of the TTB. However, there is a fine line until the TTB comes after you as what happened many years ago on Wine Commune. I know the TTB went after many people who regularly sold bottles on that site and made them spend the money to buy a license to sell, after which all was ok. Basically they just wanted the money from those people buying a license. But you shouldn't have any issues if you are just shipping a few bottles to friends, so long as the state* you're shipping from and to allows it and the person receiving it is over the legal limit.

*Or local county if it is a dry county.

I'm not a lawyer, but I read very clearly on a wine-law website that US law does strictly prohibit individuals from shipping wine at all. I'm sure, as you point out, that in reality it happens all the time, and as long as someone is not doing it frequently and openly, it's unlikely to ever draw any attention from the officals.

I've also heard that carriers like UPS and FedEx will actually destroy your package if they determine that you're shipping alcohol without a license in order to limit their own liabilty. That possibility alone would make me very hesitant to ever ship a valuable bottle.

[Moses Botbol]

I'm not a lawyer, but I read very clearly on a wine-law website that US law does strictly prohibit individuals from shipping wine at all. I'm sure, as you point out, that in reality it happens all the time, and as long as someone is not doing it frequently and openly, it's unlikely to ever draw any attention from the officals.

I've also heard that carriers like UPS and FedEx will actually destroy your package if they determine that you're shipping alcohol without a license in order to limit their own liabilty. That possibility alone would make me very hesitant to ever ship a valuable bottle.

UPS and FedEx are not the police and have tried many times to get away from any policing duties the gov't says they should do. I have never heard of them destroying packages as that would be counter-intuitive to their services the consumer paid for.

I do know that UPS has stolen wine out of packages (1st hand), but I'll leave it at that.

[Eric Menchen]

It is a generally held belief that shipping alcohol via the U.S. Postal Service is illegal. I heard that the Brewers Association lawyers were looking into this and weren't quite sure this was the case.

I sometimes ship yeast samples in a culture media for analysis.

I once had written "Beer" on a FedEx Ground shipping document. The FedEx employee at the counter told me to scratch that out and come back later.

[Andrew E]

I once shipped 36 bottles of wi--, err umm, olive oil from San Diego to both Washington and NY.

I used fedex and it came out to just under $70 to ship a case of twelve bottles cross country to upstate NY.

I did have the good fortune of having a friend that lived in SD so that I could have these 12 bottle carriers shipped to him ahead of time:
http://www.uhaul.com/MovingSupplies/Box ... ts?mid=169

They are excellent boxes, though, for only $14 each. I held onto the one I shipped myself and am about to reuse it for my move back to NY.

This is how I plan to ship "olive oil" anytime I need to.

I would trust these boxes If I wanted to go by plane as well. If anything I might add a bit more tape on the edges and sides for abrasion protection. The styrofoam is very sturdy though.

[Glenn E.]

I sometimes ship yeast samples in a culture media for analysis.

Yes, organoleptic analysis is very important for quality control purposes.

[Marc J.]

First of all, it is totally legal for an individual to ship wine (to states that allow it) as long as they go through a third party (for example a wine shop) to actually ship the package. Secondly, I have had wine shops send me my purchases through the U. S. Postal Service. I honestly thought that it was illegal to ship wine through the mail, but I guess that I was mistaken. The contents of the boxes were clearly marked on the outside of the packages and the counter person that helped me didn't even bat an eye when I picked them up.

[Carl D]

First of all, it is totally legal for an individual to ship wine (to states that allow it) as long as they go through a third party (for example a wine shop) to actually ship the package.

Which means that the individual didn't do the shipping - the licensed retailer did. I wouldn't have assumed that a retailer would be willing to do that, but it's nice to hear than at least some are.

[Marc J.]

First of all, it is totally legal for an individual to ship wine (to states that allow it) as long as they go through a third party (for example a wine shop) to actually ship the package.

Which means that the individual didn't do the shipping - the licensed retailer did. I wouldn't have assumed that a retailer would be willing to do that, but it's nice to hear than at least some are.

Yes, for individuals wishing to ship wine, my local FedEx office will provide them with a listing of local wine shops that will process their shipments.

[Andy Velebil]

First of all, it is totally legal for an individual to ship wine (to states that allow it) as long as they go through a third party (for example a wine shop) to actually ship the package.

Which means that the individual didn't do the shipping - the licensed retailer did. I wouldn't have assumed that a retailer would be willing to do that, but it's nice to hear than at least some are.

A couple years ago I had a long discussion with the local regional manager at UPS (they have a hub in the city I work) about shipping wine from private person to private person. Here's what he said then; If you're shipping from California and are over 21 years old, as long as it's wine and under 25% ABV (IIRC), you're shipping to another state where shipping wine into is legal, and you declare it appropriately when dropping off for shipping, it is perfectly legal to ship wine by UPS. That seems to be in stark contrast to what I just found on their website which says this....

UPS Wine Program
UPS provides wine shipping services for approved customers who are licensed to ship wine. Select the links below to learn more about our program.

Permissible Shipments
All wine shippers must enter into a UPS Agreement for Approved Wine Shippers.

All wine shippers must be licensed and authorized to ship according to the applicable federal or state laws and regulations of the origin and destination states. UPS does not accept shipments containing wine to or from Massachusetts.

Important Updates
Effective July 1, 2011:

Maryland and New Mexico are now Direct Shipment destination states from all permitted origins. UPS does not accept wine shipments to the following towns in New Hampshire: Ellsworth, Millsfield, Monroe, and Sharon.

Who Can Ship Wine
Who can ship wine via UPS services?

UPS only accepts packages containing wine from shippers who are licensed under applicable law and who have signed and entered into a contract with UPS for the transportation of wine.

Note: UPS provides service for other alcoholic beverages (beer and alcohol) on a contract basis only. For shipments containing beer or alcohol, shippers must enter into an approved UPS agreement for the transportation of beer or alcohol as applicable, must be licensed and authorized under applicable law to ship beer and alcohol, and may ship only to licensed consignees. UPS does not accept shipments of beer or alcohol for delivery to consumers. UPS accepts shipments of beer or alcohol only among and between selected states.

UPS' Wine Addendum states you only need to be a "licensed shipper" but doesn't state what license you need (I assume a state or federal one) and then enter into their applicable agreement.

A little more looking around and it seems you only need a $10 license in California to ship direct to others in legal states. I don't know exactly what other requirements you may need to get that $10 license, but it appears you need to have some other type of alcohol license first. As usual there is no easy finding this info in TTB's website.

[Glenn E.]

I have an 8-bottle Wine Cruzer that I take with me whenever I go to Portugal, because I know I'll be bringing back at least that many bottles. Wine Cruzers are some of the most rugged luggage that I've ever seen, but they're also on the heavy side due to that ruggedness. I think mine weighs nearly 20 lbs empty. Conveniently, it's just under 50 lbs when full of wine bottles so it sneaks in under US airlines' weight restrictions.

I also have a small carrying case that holds 2 bottles in liquid-proof pouches. It also provides them with some padding, but not by any means as much as my wine suitcase. That carrying case is really intended more for taking bottles to a friend's house or something similar, but I've used it to help pad bottles which I've then wrapped in several layers of clothing and and packed in the center of my suitcase.

I've also simply wrapped a bottle in many layers of clothing and packed that in my suitcase as isolated from the edges as I possibly can. The important packing at that point becomes the top and bottom of the bottle because those are the more likely impact points for a hard jolt. I don't use this method for rare or expensive bottles, but it's worked fine for many a "normal" bottle of Port in the past.

Seeing as I'm about to make a some trips for Port tastings over the next few weeks, I thought I'd check back on this thread. These are still my main travel methods for Port, but I was wondering if anyone else has come up with something different?

I love my Wine Cruzer, but it sure is heavy! And I'm starting to think that its 8-bottle capacity isn't enough.

[Moses Botbol]

I have one called Wine Check or something like that. Holds a standard 12 bottle shipper. Has wheels and has done over a dozen RT flights and still works. Was like $70? I think they're on a newer version of it too.

[Christian Gollnick]

My problem is that the airlines have often limited the number of allowed suitcases to one only. The last two years I had to pay extra for my second suitcase, whereby the pricing for that second suitcase seems to be more random than the flight of a butterfly in a hurricane... Two years ago they charged me for the second suitcase from Porto via Lisbon/Miami to Cayman the amount of EUR 35... last year I paid on the same route EUR 150. If it is EUR 35 or 50, I have absolutely no problem to have an extra suitcase for wine... but EUR 150 is starting to be a steep price... Especially if I would have to pay also extra for a second suitcase on the trip towards Porto... I was waiting for the moment when they would introduce scanners for liquids... and we seem to be there, now... but the dark glass of Port Wine bottles seem to be a problem for the scanners... I remember the good old days when I carried always two cases of Port with me in the cabin on my way back from Porto... If I would know in advance how much the extra-fare for the second suitcase is, I could plan accordingly... but somehow it seems very difficult to get this information from airlines...

[Andy Velebil]

My problem is that the airlines have often limited the number of allowed suitcases to one only. The last two years I had to pay extra for my second suitcase, whereby the pricing for that second suitcase seems to be more random than the flight of a butterfly in a hurricane... Two years ago they charged me for the second suitcase from Porto via Lisbon/Miami to Cayman the amount of EUR 35... last year I paid on the same route EUR 150. If it is EUR 35 or 50, I have absolutely no problem to have an extra suitcase for wine... but EUR 150 is starting to be a steep price... Especially if I would have to pay also extra for a second suitcase on the trip towards Porto... I was waiting for the moment when they would introduce scanners for liquids... and we seem to be there, now... but the dark glass of Port Wine bottles seem to be a problem for the scanners... I remember the good old days when I carried always two cases of Port with me in the cabin on my way back from Porto... If I would know in advance how much the extra-fare for the second suitcase is, I could plan accordingly... but somehow it seems very difficult to get this information from airlines...

Yes dealing with the Portuguese airlines is a gamble of what prices they charge you. I've been on that receiving end as well. At least most other airlines ( virgin, Lufthansa, delta, etc) are pretty upfront about their pricing. TAP, yeah not so much. Frustrating to say the least.