What TSA Won’t Tell You About Traveling with Wine
With the holiday season nearly upon us, you may be contemplating bringing wine as gifts or taking that much-deserved holiday vacation to a wine destination. Traveling with wine is simple — when you’re driving. When you’re flying, however, it’s another story. You may wonder: “How much wine can I fly with? How do I keep the bottles from breaking and prevent my favorite clothes from getting stained? I don’t want to ruin my suitcase!”
As a wine and travel lover, especially to wine country, I can’t help but want to bring home wines that I know I won’t find in my area. After all, the wines are great memories in a bottle. I’ve learned some tricks over the years that I’ll share here, and hopefully they’ll ease your concerns about traveling with wine. In my 15 years (thus far) of wine travel, I have not yet lost one drop of wine. With that, safe travels ...
Wine Travel Tips
Whether you’re bringing gifts of wine home for the holidays or bringing back some wine for yourself to enjoy after a holiday vacation, here are some tried and true tips to ensure that your wines get to your destination safely and ready to enjoy.
Tip 1: TSA doesn’t matter. The alcohol laws governing your destination for wine shipments do.
If you’re traveling domestically or to the United States from abroad, your main concern is not what the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) will allow you to do, but the state to which you are traveling. Each state has laws concerning the shipment of alcohol as purchased by the consumer. In most cases, states allow for one case of wine (12 bottles) per person and beyond that require an import permit.
TSA does allow each person to check-in as many wine bottles as you can bring. TSA does not discuss state law requirements, but as noted above, it’s good for you to be mindful of what those are. The only restriction that TSA has concerns beverages with alcohol content between 24 percent and 70 percent, as those fall under the “Hazardous Materials” regulations of the U.S. Department of Transportation. Wines generally fall well under the 24 percent minimum requirement, including fortified wines like port and sherry. Of course, confirm the alcohol content in the bottles you’re planning to travel with before you go through the effort.
Tip 2: Coming back to the U.S. from abroad? Six bottles can come home tax-free.
According to the 2015 U.S. Harmonized Tariff Schedule, the federal rule that governs duties imposed on basically anything we bring back from abroad, a U.S. resident, who is at least 21 years old, won’t be taxed for bringing back up to five liters of alcoholic beverages as part of all articles brought home that were purchased outside of the U.S. and are valued, in total, at or below $1,600. Five liters is about six 750ml bottles of wines. Non-residents, who are at least 21 years old, won’t be taxed for bringing to the U.S. up to 4 liters of alcoholic beverages (approximately five 750ml bottles of wine) as part of all articles brought to the U.S. that are, in total, valued up to $200.
If you’re traveling internationally from the U.S., check the requirements of your destination country.
Tip 3: Size matters.
The size of your suitcase, and of course, your wines will dictate the number of bottles you can fit in it. For simplicity, let’s assume you’re planning to travel with 750ml wine bottles (i.e,. the typical size). A cabin-sized luggage will most likely be a carry-on, but if you’re checking it in, you should plan on securing only one bottle of wine in it. Compact luggage should fit no more than two bottles. A medium-sized luggage should fit no more than three bottles, and a large suitcase should fit no more than four bottles. If you’re planning to travel with six to eight bottles, split them with your companion. If you don’t have a travel companion, then get a wine box with proper insulation. Suggested wine box options: here, here, and here. Whatever you do, do not ship wines in a duffel bag!
The number of bottles per suitcase is necessary to consider to ensure that you have enough room for adequate padding in between and around bottles. Plus, the baggage claim folks are rarely gentle with luggage. You’ll want to make sure the bag isn’t too heavy that it can’t be lifted from one platform to another. Besides, who wants to pay excess luggage fees?
Tip 4: Incorporate Ziplock and Depends in your packing strategy.
Fully wrap and tape each wine with maximum absorbency Depends. Yes, that’s right, adult diapers. Place each wine in a large storage bag (e.g., Ziplock), ideally one that has the slider seal. This way, your clothes can stand the chance of avoiding getting stained in the event that the wine does break (knock on wood). Now roll each Depends-wrapped and Ziplock-sealed wine within an article of clothing, like a t-shirt. If you’d rather not go through this effort (though it’s quite cost-effective), there are “bubble-wrap” options available like this and this.
Prep your suitcase by layering the bottom pretty thickly with clothing — bulky sweaters, three layers of t-shirts, that kind of thing. If you have room and don’t mind bringing some along, use beach towels for the bottom layer. Use your shoes to line up the sides of your suitcase, especially the bottom and sides.
Place your fully-wrapped wines in the center of your suitcase, padding each side of each wine with rolled undergarments, socks or other smaller pieces of clothing. Roll other larger articles of clothing and use them as cushion around the wine bottles, working inward from the shoes that line the sides of your suitcase. Please any other folded clothing and any remaining shoes and toiletry above the wines. Use the suitcase straps to hold everything in tightly.
When you check-in your bag, as for some fragile stickers. Baggage claim handlers may ignore them, but you never know. I use two per suitcase, placing one in-front and the other on the side next to the side handle.
Tip 5: To avoid getting a leaker, consider your layover.
Of course, no one wants a long layover when traveling. But if you’re considering ticket prices, especially during the holidays, you may have to deal with a long layover in order to secure a lower fare. If you’re traveling through a warm or hot climate location before getting to your final destination, I wouldn’t suggest bringing any wines. Wines don’t do well in prolonged heat. When a wine is exposed to high temperatures (i.e., over 70 degrees) for extended periods, the liquid in the bottle expands sometimes causing the cork to move or get pushed out from the neck of the bottle. And now you got yourself a leaker! When the liquid cools, the cork will contract, which may result in oxidation problems. Prolonged exposure to high temperatures can also permanently taint the flavor of wines making them unpleasantly sour and jammy. In red wines, it’s like tasting stewed or canned prunes. Thin and unmemorable. Who wants to drink wine after that?
Tip 6: Okay, I lied. TSA Does Matter ...
They won’t take your wine, but they will take your corkscrew. Don’t forget to check your carry-on for a runaway corkscrew (and any other sharp objects for that matter).
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