Shipping beverages in general demands a certain amount of care. Carbonated beverages in particular can distort or shatter their containers if they freeze, and the flavor of many drinks will change if they’re exposed to high temperatures for too long. Temperature control is especially important to high-quality wines since their flavor and smell are so important.
The proper storage temperature for wine is a very narrow 53-57 degrees Fahrenheit, but the safe range for temporary storage (like for transportation or display) is a fair bit wider. Wine can get colder than 32 degrees and still be fine thanks to its alcohol content, but once it gets below 20 degrees the other chemicals in wine will start precipitating out, changing its flavor and consistency. There’s also a risk that the water will freeze into slush, expand in size, and compromise the cork.
As for high temperatures, a bottle that sits outside on a hot day risks browning and premature aging, so you can imagine what can happen to a bottle that sits inside a truck or cargo container for too long considering the massive heat spikes that hit it during the hottest parts of the day.
Wineries who care about their customers deal with these problems by only shipping bottles in refrigerated trucks, although truck refrigeration still doesn’t account for times when a crate may wind up sitting on a loading dock for a few hours. At the same time, shipping with a refrigerated truck can cost a lot extra, and while wine is sensitive to temperature extremes it can still survive a change of a few dozen degrees either way. That’s why many wineries are switching from active refrigeration to passive insulation.
Individual wine orders are often packed in Styrofoam boxes that protect their contents, but Styrofoam is too brittle to scale up well and it’s not a very environmentally friendly product. Fortunately, we at ProtekCargo offer SureTemp container blankets and pallet covers for manufacturers and distributors who need to move a lot more than just one box. Our special hollow fiber insulation is highly effective at minimizing the effects of temperature spikes, keeping the cargo at a stable temperature for potentially weeks at a time. We also offer one-way shipping leases where we both pick up and drop off our blankets for free so long as they’re still in the continental United States.
Wine lovers demand a certain level of quality from their wines, and even casual fans can tell when a wine has turned thanks to exposure to the elements. However, there’s no need to break the bank on refrigerated shipping costs when there are much cheaper and equally effective alternatives available.
