Are you a wine enthusiast who is preparing to move to a new state? Do you have an extensive collection of wines from various years with various ages, and are you wondering how you'll get all that wine from your old place to your new one? If so, make the task easier with the below 5 tips for preparing your wine collection for moving day.
1. Check Your Destination State's Laws
Some states place a limit on how much alcohol a person can travel into their borders with, and other states don't allow any importation of alcohol at all. The very first thing you need to do is make sure your destination state will allow your wine collection to be transported into it by your movers. Phone the Department of Liquor Control in your destination state and let them know your plans. Some states that restrict or limit alcohol importation will permit the transport of private collections with state board approval.
2. Get It Appraised And Insured
If your wine collection is valuable, you'll want to insure it during transport, and in order to know how much to insure it for, you're going to need to know how much it is worth. Get an appraisal done on your wine collection. Find an appraiser that is experienced by looking for one that is certified by and accredited with the American Society of Appraisers. Once you know how much your wine collection is worth, you'll know what coverage amount you'll need to secure through your transport company to have your collection protected while it's not under your care.
3. Package Correctly
Wines are sensitive to sunlight, and the corks in the bottles need to stay moist in order to prevent them from drying out and allowing air into the bottles. When preparing your wine for transport, you'll want to first wrap each bottle in newspaper to limit the amount of light that enters the bottles. Next, you'll want to get some sturdy, segmented boxes and store your wine bottles upside-down in them so that the corks face the floor and are constantly in contact with liquid. Once every segment in a box is filled with an upside-down bottle of wine, place the cover on the box, tape it up securely, and label it "fragile".
4. Arranged For Temperature-Controlled Transport
The inside of a package carrier truck can get extremely hot in the summer months and equally cold in the winter months. If your wine collection is exposed to extreme temperatures fluctuations, its taste can be altered. When selecting a transport method, opt for a package moving company that offers temperature controlled vans and/or trucks. Request that the van or truck be kept at a cool 55 degrees Fahrenheit for the proper transport of both your red and white wine varieties.
5. Arrange For Adult Signing Of Transported Wine
The package transport company will carefully pick up your boxes of wine and keep them cool while delivering them to your new home, but they're going to need somebody to sign for the boxes once they arrive at your new place. And since the boxes are filled with alcoholic beverages, the person who signs for them absolutely needs to be an adult. If you were planning on leaving your teen in charge of receiving boxes while you ran all the errands that are inevitable with a relocation, think again. Schedule the delivery of the packages containing your wine collection for a time when you'll be there to sign for them yourself.
If you're getting ready to call a new state home and you've got a wine collection to bring with you, the above 5 tips are for you. For more information on how to safely transport a wine collection, contact a package moving company in your area.
