Moving wine around the world is actually quite a complicated business, not just because of the different labelling requirements and strict customs/import regulations, but also because of the physical conditions under which the wine travels. If you’re moving wine across the equator, or half way around the world your bottles will be subject to all sorts of stresses, the most significant being temperature.

In an ideal world we would move everything using refrigerated transport (as we do for all of our domestic pallet deliveries), but for long distance this can be a very expensive exercise. Whilst I have no doubt that all the 1er Cru Classé wines of Bordeaux are always moved around using temperature controlled transport (as customers protect their huge investment), for a humble wine such as albariño this is not quite so common.That’s not to say that it doesn’t happen as we do have customers that ship our wine across the planet at a constant temperature of  around 12°C….. a real achievement in logistics!

If you’re not quite so rich there is however, an alternative – perhaps not quite as effective, but still offering some protection against the elements. J.F. Hillebrand offer a system called a Vinliner, sort of like a big ‘oven proof’ foil bag into which you simply zip your pallets or cases. Obviously it isn’t really just foil, in reality it’s made from an aluminium coated woven polyethylene fabric, which simply adds another layer of protection against thermal shock (see photo). Of course it still needs to be backed by a good marine transit insurance.

As one final precaution, however you decide to pack your container, you always need to specify that your precious cargo is stowed below deck, and not piled high on top of the ship with full exposure to hot sunshine – baking your beloved albariño like an oven!

Moving wine around the world is actually quite a complicated business, not just because of the different labelling requirements and strict customs/import regulations, but also because of the physical conditions under which the wine travels. If you’re moving wine across the equator, or half way around the world your bottles will be subject to all sorts of stresses, the most significant being temperature.

In an ideal world we would move everything using refrigerated transport (as we do for all of our domestic pallet deliveries), but for long distance this can be a very expensive exercise. Whilst I have no doubt that all the 1er Cru Classé wines of Bordeaux are always moved around using temperature controlled transport (as customers protect their huge investment), for a humble wine such as albariño this is not quite so common.That’s not to say that it doesn’t happen as we do have customers that ship our wine across the planet at a constant temperature of  around 12°C….. a real achievement in logistics!

If you’re not quite so rich there is however, an alternative – perhaps not quite as effective, but still offering some protection against the elements. J.F. Hillebrand offer a system called a Vinliner, sort of like a big ‘oven proof’ foil bag into which you simply zip your pallets or cases. Obviously it isn’t really just foil, in reality it’s made from an aluminium coated woven polyethylene fabric, which simply adds another layer of protection against thermal shock (see photo). Of course it still needs to be backed by a good marine transit insurance.

As one final precaution, however you decide to pack your container, you always need to specify that your precious cargo is stowed below deck, and not piled high on top of the ship with full exposure to hot sunshine – baking your beloved albariño like an oven!