I don’t know about you, but I am SO ready for some wine travel! And I am ready now, thanks to my new VinGardeValise® from FlyWithWine, to bring back some precious bottles safely on all my wine trips. We have put off our trip to Champagne 5 times because of Covid and I can’t wait to fill up my new luggage with some exceptional bottles I’m unable to source in the US.
Here’s my new acquisition:
Why Do YOU Need a Wine Suitcase?
Of course, you can always use a shipping company to bring back your wines, but you risk damage in transport (think about a hot truck or cargo container ruining your wine!), a huge time delay, and now that gas prices are sky high, it’s going to cost you a fortune. Plus, some items, especially if you are going to Europe, may not even be able to be shipped to you! And here in New Hampshire where I live which is a control state, we have regulations that make it so I can’t legally get shipments of certain wines. *Sigh*
Compare shipping costs to the one-time cost of a wine suitcase:
The prices listed below are based on the industry average weight of 42 pounds per case, shipping from Napa/Sonoma, California.
12 Bottles: (Ground shipping)
Zones 1-3 (nearby, bordering states): $45 – 55 per case
Zones 4-7 (outside bordering states): $65 – $84 per case
12 Bottles: (3-Day Shipping)
Zones 1-3 (nearby, bordering states): $118 – $120 per case
Zones 4-7 (outside bordering states): $159 – $197 per case
12 Bottles: (Next Day Air)
Zones 1-3 (nearby, bordering states): $245 – $253 per case
Zones 4-7 (outside bordering states): $271 – $289 per case
If like me you’re a frequent traveler to and from destinations where you’re buying and enjoying wine, the VinGardeValise® is the perfect choice. I know I used to not want to check luggage, but if I can bring home some fantastic vino, and have room for extra personal items and clothes – or souvenirs – I find it worth it. And remember, these suitcases can hold beer or alcohol bottles too.
In addition to the convenience the suitcase offers, you don’t need to worry about the safety of your wine – the case locks and the wine is there with you the whole trip, versus on a container on a ship stuck in a port! Also, there’s no need to concern yourself with shipping regulations or volume limits, since there are currently no restrictions on the amount of wine you can travel with inside your checked luggage.
How to Get Your Wine Suitcase
You can find the VinGardeValise® on the website, Wine Suitcase | Wine Luggage – FlyWithWine and at winery tasting rooms throughout California, Oregon, and Washington, and elsewhere in North America, and at major national retailers. Plus, they ship to most international countries.
Sign up for their newsletter on the website and get 10% off your first purchase! Wine Suitcase | Wine Luggage – FlyWithWine
About the Company
According to Ron Scharman, CEO, FlyWithWine was founded with a mission: to solve the single biggest problem faced by wine country travelers as they follow their dreams of visiting their favorite wineries around the world. How to bring their favorite wines back home with them safely and securely on an airplane so they can be enjoyed while reliving memories with every sip. Here’s more of the FlyWithWine story:
Behind FlyWithWine is a team of wine enthusiasts, globetrotters, and creative thinkers living and breathing in the wine industry, right in the heart of Napa Valley. Over the years, as we traveled to stunning wine regions around the world (enjoying a few bottles of wine along the way), we were constantly reminded of the problems of transporting wine and became dead-set on remedying them.
For me, the journey started with a trip to Burgundy during the hot summer months a number of years back. It was there that I discovered a jewel of a winery outside of Beaune producing some amazing wines that I wanted to bring back home to my cellar. My only options were to risk shipping the wine back to the U.S. illegally in unknown transit conditions during summer, or, I could pack the wine myself in cheap Styrofoam shippers and put it in the cargo of my plane, risking the wrath of overworked baggage handlers at multiple airports along the way.
I was faced with quite the dilemma, and a seemingly medieval one at that — we’d invented the wheel, then electricity, then space travel, and yet somewhere in there we missed wine travel. There had to be a better way to buy, bring home, and enjoy wine – and now there is. It’s called the VinGardeValise.
