Moving the cellar

I'm going to be moving from Santa Clara to Santa Rosa in a couple of weeks, and one thing to move is my wine cellar.
I have about 300 bottles in my Vinotemp. Does anybody know of a good way to get them into cases for moving day?
I'm planning to rent a truck with a liftgate for the Vinotemp, my rollaway tool chest and some other heavy stuff such as books and wine, as well as the usual furniture, dishes and closets full of stuff.
Maybe I can buy some flat cases from one of the wineries where I'm a regular...

John

The important question of course is temp. If you're talking certain sub 80 F along route, I'd just pick up cardboard cases (flats stack better), pack, load cases last on truck, pack them tight with insulating blankets, unload first. A day at basically room temp should be fine. But if any chance of warmer temps, I'd think about driving in an airconditioned vehicle. Can you fit 25 cases/hold 1000 lbs in your personal vehicle? Could either do 2 trips, or rent a van with AC.
I moved about 600 bottles over 3 days, but much shorter trip, I just loaded about 5 cases at a time. I'd just caution to seal boxes well with strong tape, when you're tired it's easy to tilt. Good luck.

Try these guys: http://winepacks.com/winepackaging.aspx ... 3AodvGmL4w

In a few weeks, the weather will cool down in these parts. Avoid parking the truck/car in the sun so that it does not get too warm inside. You local grocery store may have old packing materials that they may give away for free and which could serve as decent insulation. If you have don't have too many bottles, it might be less of a hassle to have it shipped. Doesn't Golden State Overnight have AC trucks? Good luck with your move.

You could also buy those styrofoam shippers from places like BevMo. I don't think they are too expensive but with 25 cases, it will come to some money. I use them to ship stuff all the time.

Mike

I'm not particularly worried about the weather - as Shaji says, it probably won't be horribly hot. I'm hoping to rent a Penske truck with a liftgate so I can move the Vinotemp and other heavy stuff (my old mechanic's rollaway and a dozen boxes of books, for instance) at the same time. And if I do the bulk of moving in one day, I can get the family to help out.
Carl, I think I've received club shipments in those cases. I do have a few, but at $60 for a case box, that'll add 50% to the "investment" in the majority of my wine.
I'll see what I can pick up from Dave Coffaro or the folks at Foppiano. As Dale says, it ought to be Ok, given typical Bay Area temperatures and roughly a 6 hour "exposure".

John

Try these guys: http://winepacks.com/winepackaging.aspx ... 3AodvGmL4w

CaRl, those guys sound awfully darn high priced!

Try these guys: http://winepacks.com/winepackaging.aspx ... 3AodvGmL4w

CaRl, those guys sound awfully darn high priced!

Well, Bob, in this neck of the woods, you just can't run down to the store and buy one!

Maybe I'll see what Wine Club has, too.

JOhn

[Jenise]

I'm not particularly worried about the weather - as Shaji says, it probably won't be horribly hot. I'm hoping to rent a Penske truck with a liftgate so I can move the Vinotemp and other heavy stuff (my old mechanic's rollaway and a dozen boxes of books, for instance) at the same time. And if I do the bulk of moving in one day, I can get the family to help out.
Carl, I think I've received club shipments in those cases. I do have a few, but at $60 for a case box, that'll add 50% to the "investment" in the majority of my wine.
I'll see what I can pick up from Dave Coffaro or the folks at Foppiano. As Dale says, it ought to be Ok, given typical Bay Area temperatures and roughly a 6 hour "exposure".

John

When I moved 1000 bottles up here to Washington, I just asked a local liquor store to save cardboard for me. They weren't actually keen to go to the trouble of "saving" per se, considering that an interruption of their normal procedure especially since they normally use a box cutter to slice off the top which of course I needed, but they offered that if I just showed up early a.m. when they were restocking the shelves I could flatten/pack out whatever came available. Only took a few weeks to collect all that I needed.

I called Pat Coffaro this afternoon and she said, "Come on up and take all you want!"
They pack the wine in cases at bottling and put them on pallets. Then in the course of shipping out the orders, they flatten the cases and send them to recycling a couple of times a week.

I sense an engineering and market-making opportunity here. Invent a foldable, reusable bottle storage container that's cheaper over its lifetime than buying cases and tossing them. You should probably use green plastic.

John

When I picked up my couple of dozen flat cases at Coffaro yesterday afternoon, Pat said, "Tell everybody you know to come and get as many as they want - we empty 20 or 30 cases a day and have to pay to recycle them." There's a big heap behind the storage barn.

John