I recently read this thread about Travel Shock and also Bottle Shock:

http://forums.winespectator.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/...55/r/7681016#7681016

I have heard many people attribute bottle variation to travel shock. Is there any evidence, circumstantial or otherwise, to indicate that this animal actually exists?

Also, if many believe in this myth/truth, are there any guidelines one should follow in regards to time it takes a bottle to recover, or particular wines or ages of wines that are more prone to travel shock than others?

It is very simple to find out. Take the same two bottles out of your cellar & shake the heck out out of one for a couple of minutes. Pour both bottles into 2 glasses & taste for yourself over a hour's length of time. Decide for yourself.

I'd wait about 1-2 weeks depending on the length of the trip. If you are transporting to a wine function, carry it on the seat and even a pillow; not rolling around in the trunk.

Our very own cdr11 has a unique method of dealing with bottles that had traveled. Check out this thread for some further insights. But seriously, read the thread there is some interesting stuff.

Some people beleive travel shock is real and others beleive it's a myth. I beleive it exists, but think that most wine will only take a week or 2 to recover.

Another side issue sometimes related to as travel shock, but it isn't really travel shock, is that wines that throw a sediment should be left to sit for 2 weeks or so after being moved. This allows the sediment to settle back down into the bottom of the bottle.

Unless the wine stays in the winery until someone decides to drink it, doesn't all wine by definition "suffer" from travel shock? If so, what really is the issue here?

The issue is the belief that when wine get transported that due to getting all shaken up the wine is worse after the travel. This is a seperate issue to existing sediment being suspended in the wine after travel.

Some people believe some wines are very fragile and do not recover from travelling. Some believe that wines only need a week or two to recover. Some believe it's just a myth.

Travel shock is counter intuitive to me, at least with respect wines without sediment issues. I can't see there being any short term chemical change in the wine from the vibrations and the occasional shaking associated with normal travel. After all, the wine is not being put through a centrifuge where particle are going to separate from each other. If anything, the wine may take on additional oxygen in the same way decanting a bottle through a aerating funnel does, but nothing more.