The Auswine Forum

A quick question for the forum:

If transporting wine in a motor vehicle, lying flat and fitted snuggly in a wooden box for about 1 1/2 hours; will this affect the wine in any way ?

Other than sediment, will this sort of trip give "travel shock" or am I worrying about nothing ?

Regards and best wishes to all forumites for a great Christmas and New Year with plenty of good cheer

Has anyone done any tests with respect to travel shock? Of course in older or unfiltered wines sediment will be the major problem, but what about wines with no sediment? Has anyone opened up a sediment free bottle that has recently travelled and compared it to one or more that hasnt (that have been cellared identically)? I guess there's always the chance of bottle variation as well!

I guess the more the bottle is sloshed around the more contact the wine has with the oxygen in the headspace. Perhaps this shaking up can accelerate oxidative reactions that usually take longer to occur such as tannin polymerisation? Perhaps it is a mild form of decanting and aeration without opening the bottle?

Drove across the Nullabor last July with a mixed six pack of reds on the back floor. We had them at various stops along the way between Perth through to Rutherglen and back with all drinking just fine. We also had a couple of bottles of 30+ yo VP that also handled the ride just fine, sediment included.

I must admit to being more than just a little over this travel shock thing, and have always thought it to be a bit iffy.

In my experince most wines are find and show no ill effects. But, and its its a big but, I have found some wines do suffer from travel shock. For example, on 3 occasions when I have travelled with the 94 Mt Edelstone, all 3 bottles were well below expectations whilst all the others I have tried have been fine.

I find that a polysterine box sealed is your best bet. Packed in the coolest place of your car. If you really want to get technical, air seal the box. Because the major effect would be change in air pressure.

If too great may cause the bottles to either take in air, or express air ( if under cork )

Cheers Wine Bloke

wine bloke wrote:I find that a polysterine box sealed is your best bet. Packed in the coolest place of your car. If you really want to get technical, air seal the box. Because the major effect would be change in air pressure.

If too great may cause the bottles to either take in air, or express air ( if under cork )

Cheers Wine Bloke

Completely disagree with much of what you have written here.

Sure the coolest place in the car will help as will the styro box, but the question is how much? If your car is parked out in the sun for hours, the styro box will have virtually no effect in protecting the wine against heat, but the biggest problem is not heat for a brief period, or air pressure. I must admit, in all my years reading about wine this is the first time I have read about air pressure being a problem, especially if travelling by car.

Its the wine being shaken up and the sediment being disturbed that the biggest problem IMO.

I suspect air pressure as a response to extreme heat might be the issue - if thats the case extreme heat is actually the problem.

Otherwise air pressure being a problem is just rubbish, if you believed that you'd never carry wine on a plane.

Wizz wrote:I suspect air pressure as a response to extreme heat might be the issue - if thats the case extreme heat is actually the problem.

Otherwise air pressure being a problem is just rubbish, if you believed that you'd never carry wine on a plane.

Quiet agree on the air pressure problem. Urban myth!

But in regards to the extreme heat, it maybe best to keep the wine on the back seat rather than the boot as from experience, some boots get a tad warm from the heat coming off the exhaust pipe. I had this problem with my XR6 Turbo, especially on the right hand side of the boot.

I have some good experience travelling with wine.

Regarding air pressure, my anecdote is, that there is little affect in an aircraft. However, this won't worry many here, but oxidisation rates seem to be considerable for an open bottle.

I don't buy wine at auction much. I prefer to buy wine ASAP after release, and place it in a professional storage facility. My wines consistantly drink best withing 5km of a cellaring facility.

Travel shock may or may not effect many wines. In my experience, it has a profounda effect on old wines in an unfiltered style.

I have consumed the same bottles of wines in this style, within 5km of my celllaring facility, with a consistant quality. The style will throw a considerable crust- sometimes for presentation at dinner parties, I will double decant and remove the crust simply by filling the empty, crusted bottle with springwater.

Now, when I take these wines back to Hong Kong say, and open within a few months, there is no crust! The travel has cleaned the crust and deposited it as floaties in the wine. Affecting wine quality considerably- gritty and tart!

Many years ago there was a column in the Wine Spectator about the idea that "travel shock" would adversely affect a wine. The columnist rigged a device that shook a bottle of wine for many an hour and then tested it against another bottle of the same wine. The result was a draw, thereby debunking the myth of travel shock. I believe however, that the wine was a younger wine without sediment. If the wine is an older wine with sediment then it should be allowed to rest for a few days before opening. So you should be able to travel with a bottle of wine without any worries.

The only thing to consider when transporting wines is temperature. Heat is the big killer, in your car, in a truck, or on the loading docks. I find that the interior of the car, in the back seat, to be cooler than the boot. In adition, if you are going to be several days in the car it would be advisable to bring the wines into the hotel to avoid large swings in temperature between day and night, another killer of wines.

The shaking of the air in the bottle shouldn't make any difference on the development of the wine. There isn't much air in the bottle and besides, it is the breathable quality of the cork that plays a role in the development of aging wines. That is why screw-capped wines are considered to be 'fresher' for longer periods of time, no air through the seal, just the air in the bottle. As for air pressure, hmmm, the less said the better.

But, I will say this, I always prefer, if I can, to let a wine settle down for a few weeks before I drink it. Invariably, the wine that is a few weeks older is better than the bottle opened straight from the shop. and I know its not logiical. But then again, what is logical about wine appreciation?

Cheers..........Mahmoud.

Mahmoud Ali wrote:Many years ago there was a column in the Wine Spectator about the idea that "travel shock" would adversely affect a wine. The columnist rigged a device that shook a bottle of wine for many an hour and then tested it against another bottle of the same wine. The result was a draw, thereby debunking the myth of travel shock.

Testing one bottle of wine does not prove anything other than that one wine did not suffer from travel shock.

For a teast like that to prove anything substantial or realistic, they would have to test many different wines of varying ages, styles and types.

Wizz wrote:I suspect air pressure as a response to extreme heat might be the issue - if thats the case extreme heat is actually the problem.

Otherwise air pressure being a problem is just rubbish, if you believed that you'd never carry wine on a plane.

AB
A couple of years ago, we flew Adelaide to Sydney to Brisbane with friends. When we took off from Sydney my friend started to do a crossword with one of those fine tip felt pens. At some time after takeoff and before we reached travel altitude, the felt tip pen started to squirt the ink out in quite a stream.

If that was not air pressure I would be extremely interested in a cause.

Graham

GrahamB wrote:

Wizz wrote:I suspect air pressure as a response to extreme heat might be the issue - if thats the case extreme heat is actually the problem.

Otherwise air pressure being a problem is just rubbish, if you believed that you'd never carry wine on a plane.

AB
A couple of years ago, we flew Adelaide to Sydney to Brisbane with friends. When we took off from Sydney my friend started to do a crossword with one of those fine tip felt pens. At some time after takeoff and before we reached travel altitude, the felt tip pen started to squirt the ink out in quite a stream.

If that was not air pressure I would be extremely interested in a cause.

Graham

Thats exactly my point.

Cabin air pressure isn't set to sea level. I've had assorted toiletries misbehave for this reason. I've also carried wine on plane enough times without any effect whatsoever to be comfortable that air pressure differentials etc arent going to blow a cork out.

A bit more of an interesting topic than I initially thought....!

FWIW - All 6 bottles travelled just fine and I didn't notice any difference in taste or quality compared to previous bottles. They travelled in a very snuggly fit wooden box stored upright.

Will post notes later on the following wines:

1977 Grange
1986 St Henri
1986 707 ( 2 bottles and both quite different )
1986 JR
1994 Mt Edelstone
MOET NV

I ride a motorbike and transport wines on it. They're always wrapped in t-shirts and placed flat either in the black Gearsack on the rack or in a black backpack on the pillion seat, attached to the rack's upright. Never had a problem with any of the admittedly mostly young wine's I carry this way.

Townsville to Rockhampton (full-day ride) last Saturday with:

Stonehaven Rat & Bull cab/shiraz 02
Murdoch The Merger cab/shiraz 04
Wolf Blass Grey Label shiraz 04
Grant Burge Filsell shiraz 04
Jim Barry Watervale riesling 05
The Wine Society RL Buller & Sons lbvp 1991

All wines drank exactly as tasted previously. The Rat & Bull was drunk on Saturday night.

Early January this year, Townsville to Atherton (half-day ride) on a very hot summer day with PL Stonewell 98 and Seppelt Dorrien 96 (and some others I forget). These two were left to stand upright for a day or two for any sediment to settle and they both were fine.

Travel "shock" affecting wine, other than those with sediment or at least several days exposure to constant high (35C+) temperature, is an urban myth IMHO. Perhaps our palates are more sensitive to travel than wine.

Though, as always with matters vinous, there are bound to be those who think otherwise.