How to transport new wine?

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Hey all you other wine makers out there...In my exuberance over our new-found homestead in Alabama, I forgot to make plans for the transport of my wine ! I have just bottled 24 liters (last week) and nestled them safely in my cellar.The MOVERS are coming a week from today..YIKES!!!!! I am afraid that #1.if I box them up and label them "tools",and they spend a week in a hot tractor trailer,I will have a very wet box full of "tools" smelling like homemade wine #2,if I box them up and ship them to myself in Alabama I will have the same results from the box being tossed onto a truck,airplane, whatever..#3, husband, myself, two big dogs and two cats in a 1993 Blazer squished in with a very large box of wine zooming South on I81 for 15 hours....are these fears of heat etc. justified??? Should we get a styrofoam cooler( do they make them that big)???? Has anybody else done this????????? No,Brad, we will not consider drinking all the wine prior to leaving..it's not ready yet!

-- Lesley Chasko (martchas@gateway.net), May 23, 2000

Answers

My first thought would be--Can you legally transport that much wine across the state line, homemade or not?

The alternative??? Chanting--PARTY, PARTY, PARTY! LOL.

-- greenbeanman (greenbeanman@ourtownusa.net), May 23, 2000.


ahem....hence the box marked "tools"....

-- Lesley Chasko (martchas@gateway.net), May 23, 2000.

Send each one of us a bottle & when it is ready, come visit each of us & we will open the wine! It would be a great chance to visit all of us!--- Ok! Then I vote for the PARTY! PARTY! PARTY! Lots of offices want to get rid of all their heavy boxes & bubble wrap--might be an easy way to move it! Best wishes to you --how ever you move it!!!! Sonda in Ks.

-- Sonda (sgbruce@birch.net), May 24, 2000.

Lots of wine gets transported all round the place in boxes of bottles. Yours shoudn't be any different. I'd try to get enough cartons with cardboard dividers to fit the bottles, from a liquor outlet. Alternatively, roll each bottle into ten or fifteen sheets of newspaper - cushioning and insulation in one (aside - wrap bottles of cold water, frozen food, etc in multiple sheets of newspaper if you want them to stay cold for hours - even a day).If there's room and you're still worried, put a half-sheet of crumpled newspaper under each bottle. Sounds to me like about three dozen bottles, depending on the bottle size. You can probably fit that in the Blazer, even if you need to tie hubby on the roof-rack.

-- Don Armstrong (darmst@yahoo.com.au), May 24, 2000.

Don't they have U-halls where you are? Even a blazer should be able to pull a small one and then you would have room for a few other things you might not want the movers to damage. A small trailer shouldn't cost more than $100 or so.....................JAY

-- jay (jay@townsqr.com), May 24, 2000.


Lesley, Don't listen to these people who say to have a party and drink it all up. You'd have the sickest bunch of party goers ever if the wine is still "green".

I have a full rack (70+ bottles) of homemade wine in an insulated/heated outbuilding. In the summer the temp. stays fairly cool. Although there have been a few times when we've had a string of really hot days and nights and the building heats up. I haven't noticed any problems with the wine (aged or green). I wouldn't want to subject the wine to those high temps over a long term but for a move across country, I'd be more worried about the stuff being shaken up too much. You wouldn't want to blow any corks. Don't let the movers move it! You have a lot of time invested in the stuff...15 more hours of careful handling will not be wasted.

I second the motion of putting the hubby on the car top rack and setting the wine on the floor and seat next to you....really, which is worth more?

-- Peggy Adkins (adkinsonthefarm@hotmail.com), May 24, 2000.


Last year I was sent a bottle of wine via UPS from Ohio to West coast.

The bottle of wine arrived safely and was DELICIOUS!!!! prompted me to become a wine(cough O) maker! yeah a wine maker :)

When she was asked what was in the box she told them wine and UPS said " Nope sorry unless you have a license..nope, no way!" then she told them it was Vinegar! and they then said "well then that is ok! you sure it is vinegar?" she promptly replied "Wine Vinegar!"

but I like the party idea much better!

-- xrhodes (xrhodes@usa.com), May 24, 2000.


Problem has been solved....wish I could throw a party, but time is of the essence here! All of our friends in Lancaster County are non- drinking folks,yet rallied around me in my time of need!!! We bought a 48 quart cooler today and are taking 12 bottles with us in the infamous Blazer (so my husband can stay in the truck)..the rest of the bottles have been parcelled out for the summer to give them more time to settle down...I got some pre-paid postage stickers and all of my friends will send two bottles to Alabama in the Fall..neatly wrapped and no fear of popped corks!!!! We will gently cool the wine in the truck with some (not much) ice for the trip.A U-Haul would be a good idea, but husband is fearful of them, so it is not an option.I'm glad to hear that the heat will not cause a problem!!!! I DID work hard to make this and want my wine to be good for the Winter..Thanks again...

-- Lesley Chasko (martchas@gateway.net), May 24, 2000.

Lesley, when you open the wine this winter---remember to let us know how it is --ok?? We will have a party viva internet! Ha! (My hubby & I don't drink either---once in a great while for a special occasion we will have a glass of wine--with our meal!) So I would have been safe to have watched you wine! ha--Have a safe trip in the blazer--so glad hubby can ride inside with you & dogs & cats! ha---Let us know how it is in Alabama when ya get there! Sonda in Ks.

-- Sonda (sgbruce@birch.net), May 24, 2000.

LOL! My sister says just make sure the corks aren't pointing towards the back of hubby's head!!

-- Kathleen Sanderson (stonycft@worldpath.net), May 25, 2000.


Sorry I have been too busy to answer this sooner. I was going to suggest you send it all to me as a test, and then I would send whatever was left to your new address. After, of course, testing for palatability. Having missed that opportunity, have a celebratory toast when you get there, and if you are "wine-less" I'll send some of my latest. And don't forget we'll all need your new e-maill address. GL to you and Neil!

-- Brad (homefixer@mix-net.net), May 27, 2000.

All restrictions on "homemade wine" for personal use have been lifted ! It used to be 8 gallons per household. I have that on ice ! You can now "distill" 8 gallons of "anything" for personal use(for medicinal use only). When your 47 years old and work 100 hours per week than anything your able to do --is "medicinal" LMAO

-- Joel Rosen (Joel681@webtv.net), May 27, 2000.

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