Packaging wine bottles is one of the most important factors to ensure that the bottles arrive at their destination intact and in the best conditions.
Whether you are a producer or a wine enthusiast looking to ship bottles abroad, there are various packaging options to ensure successful wine shipping.
In this article, we will explore the various packaging possibilities together, giving you all the elements you need to decide how to organize your shipment.
Risks in wine transportation
Let’s start by defining the risks involved in wine transportation.
Regardless of the chosen mode of transportation (road, railway, sea, air), since wine is typically sold in glass bottles, it may incur certain risks during transportation that could compromise its saleability. These risks include:
- Risk of breakage: Glass bottles containing wine could break during transportation due to impacts, vibrations, and temperature changes. This not only implies the inability to maintain integrity of the product and the failure of the shipment but also the risk of damage to the container, potentially resulting in injuries to the operator handling the package.
- Liquid leakage: Some transportation methods (such as air transport) subject products to changes in atmospheric pressure. This also causes a change in pressure inside the bottles, whose corks could explode during transportation, resulting in liquid leakage and compromising the integrity of the bottle.
- Aesthetic damages: While not implying a bottle breakage, aesthetic anomalies also compromise the product’s saleability. Scratched bottles, dented bottles, or damage to closures or labels change the perception of the product’s quality by users, negatively impacting their idea.
Therefore, the quality and attention to packaging of bottles are essential to avoid as much as possible these risks and to ensure the successful outcome of the shipment.
How to Pack Wine Bottles for Safe Transport?
Let’s see in the next paragraph.
Types of wine bottle packaging
There are different types of packaging for wine bottles that can allow shipments to arrive intact and without unpleasant surprises.
It is important to emphasize that the choice of packaging type may depend on factors such as:
- Destination;
- Method of transportation (by road, by air, by railway, by sea);
- Quantity of bottles to be shipped (single bottle, crate, pallet);
- Type of customer to whom the shipment is addressed (B2B, B2C);
- Product quality;
- Brand prestige;
- Budget.
In this paragraph, we will explain the various packaging possibilities for wine bottles, with a detailed explanation for each type.
Cardboard box
The cardboard box is the most common choice for wine shipping.
Typically, boxes transporting this type of product are designed for the transport of 6 bottles, separated from each other with dividers to keep them stable during transport and prevent them from hitting each other.
Sometimes, in addition to the dividers provided in the boxes, extra padding materials are inserted to provide even more protection to the bottles.
Polystyrene box
The polystyrene box is also a packaging method often used in wine shipments.
This material, in addition to absorbing vibrations and impacts that can occur in any type of transport, also has insulating properties that allow the wine temperature to remain constant during transportation, protecting it from any thermal fluctuations that could compromise its quality.
Furthermore, thanks to the lightweight material, the boxes are more easily manageable.
Mesh packaging
Mesh packaging is normally used in the shipment or storage of fragile products that, in addition to boxing, require additional safety and protection measures. Among these are glass bottles and, in general, all delicate and fragile objects.
This type of packaging consists of a protective net of intertwined wires with which the wine bottles are wrapped to protect them during transportation or storage.
In the case of wine bottle shipping, a plastic or fiberglass mesh packaging is used, but there are also other materials depending on the products to be transported.
Double boxing
Double boxing, as suggested by the name itself, involves placing the box containing the wine bottles into another larger box, in which cushioning material (such as polystyrene) is added to cushion impacts.
The purpose of this type of packaging is to reduce the vibrations and impacts suffered by the bottles thanks to this absorbent material that retains them, reducing the possibility of bottle damage.
Wooden crate
The shipment of wine in wooden crates is chosen mainly for aesthetic reasons as the woodwork gives an elegant and rustic appearance much appreciated by buyers.
Functionally, however, this solution is the least suitable, as it makes it difficult to handle the box due to its weight and the rigidity of the packaging, which is sensitive to impacts.
Pallet
Pallet shipping is the ideal solution for shipping large quantities of bottles or “special” bottles, particularly heavy bottles.
For example, if you need to ship a Sovereign (25-liter bottle), a Primat (27-liter bottle), or a Melchizedek (30-liter bottle), the best solution is to ship them on custom pallets, allowing for easier box handling and ensuring greater protection and safety.
Internal padding
To provide additional protection to wine bottles, there are various types of padding that can be used inside the boxes or to wrap the bottles:
- Polystyrene padding: in the form of balls or “chips” of polystyrene, wine boxes can be filled with this material to fill empty spaces and cushion impacts.
- Paper padding: by wrapping the wine bottles with paper and then inserting them into the boxes, they will be better protected from impacts and scratches.
- Bubble wrap: as for paper padding, by wrapping the bottles in bubble wrap, it will ensure that they are better protected from impacts.
How to pack wine bottles best
At this point, you may be wondering which of these packagings is the safest, right?
As we said, there is no one solution that is suitable for any shipment.
In general, what we recommend is to follow these steps:
- Wrap the bottle in mesh packaging, sturdy paper, or bubble wrap;
- Insert it into a cardboard or polystyrene box;
- If you need to ship more than one bottle, insert separators between each bottle;
- Insert padding material to protect the bottles and prevent them from hitting the box walls or other bottles.
Conclusion
As you have understood from this article, there are various methods for packaging wine bottles, the choice of which depends largely on the specific needs of the shipment. If you are having difficulty organizing transportation and/or choosing the materials to use for packaging, at WayToGo we have a dedicated and specialized service for these situations. Contact us, and we will be able to provide support for any situation.
