Maybe there are regulations which make this impossible between states but why isn't dry iced used to package wine?

They use it for icecream, so it seems like it would naturally lend itself to wine in the hot months. Not to mention it is pretty cheap, probably the most cost effective solution.

Thoughts?

My guess: Safety, plus it gets too cold.

Also is it really more cost-effective than an air-conditioned truck?

I think the same reason you never stick wine in the freezer. It damages the wine.

quote:

Originally posted by Dave Tong BBP:
My guess: Safety, plus it gets too cold.

Also is it really more cost-effective than an air-conditioned truck?

The wine isn't on the truck the whole time.

You could just put a small amount on the outside of the Styrofoam so there would not be direct contact with the bottle.

Maybe it is a safety thing, but they use it now.

Dry ice is -113F. It's useful for ice cream which should be around -40F. Dave's correct: too cold.

quote:

Originally posted by tanglenet:
Dry ice is -113F. It's useful for ice cream which should be around -40F. Dave's correct: too cold.

Very cold, I think someone could make it work based on the distance from the bottle.

Just brainstorming out loud.

Edit: Found this, interesting: http://www.dryicepacks.com/

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Sticky2,

Actually what they are selling is not dry ice but gel packs (bad advertising). You can also find similar products under the names "cold ice" "gel packs" "blue ice" and "phase change material". These would work fine for shipping wine.

I have a couple of these in my freezer and I use one or two on hot days when carrying wine to an offline or restaurant

The only reason I can think of would be the extra expense in doing so. Case sizes are pretty standard and it would cost a lot of money upfront in devising a package that would keep the pseudoice bags in proper place and distance from the bottles. I don't think the makers of the wine would like to shell out that extra dough, and it would make the wine cost more instead of the shipping cost. The best distributors (unfortunately not many of them) ship their wine from a cold house to refrigerated trucks because of the ease of stacking and moving the wine. Don't believe they will want to shell out the extra shipping cost in initiating the cold bag packaging & shipping method, especially when their current ways are more convinenient and cheaper (at current gas levels). If the cost of gas goes up it is easier for them to charge the purchaser a fuel charge. Like many things they do it because it is easier and cheaper to them. Just my two cents.

I don't know if it uses dried ice but somebody in California someplace I read recently is selling a new wine shipper that keeps the wine cool for shipping during summer months but as best I recall it's fairly expensive. I'll see if I can track it down.

Something obviously could be done. Someone willing to spend the time could invent a suitable solution. Perhaps patent it and make a lot of money. There appears to be a demand for such a product.

Maybe the styrofoam could have cells filled with some type of gel coolant. Put the styrofoam in the freezer. Blah, blah, I'm sure there are many possible solutions that could work.

In April I ordered a 5# round of Rogue Blue Cheese from Oregon for a party I was having in Scottsdale, AZ. They put it in a sytro box surrounded by frozen packets of water I presume. Sent by next day delivery it arrived in perfect cool condition.

They use ice packs when shipping caviar or other perishables...

Just read on ebob that Corra sent a 6-pack of their 05 cab to a guy in Dallas in a 12 bottle shipper. the 6 empties were filled with gel packs. temps in triple digits in napa and Dallas but when wines recieved, gel packs still partially frozen and container was cold.

Although probabaly a little expensive, seems like a good idea especially for high end wines. Wish more woudl do that if they are going to ship this time of year.

Just putting the wine in the fridge overnight before shipping would be better than nothing.

Actually with the proper insulation, that maybe all you need to do.

quote:

Originally posted by jgreen:
Just read on ebob that Corra sent a 6-pack of their 05 cab to a guy in Dallas in a 12 bottle shipper. the 6 empties were filled with gel packs. temps in triple digits in napa and Dallas but when wines recieved, gel packs still partially frozen and container was cold.

Although probabaly a little expensive, seems like a good idea especially for high end wines. Wish more woudl do that if they are going to ship this time of year.

I just got my Corra order, and they did the same thing. 2 gel packs though, not all 6. Wines arrived ok, 69 degrees F.

quote:

Originally posted by gotapex:

I just got my Corra order, and they did the same thing. 2 gel packs though, not all 6. Wines arrived ok, 69 degrees F.

They didn't do that for me

Just regular frozen gel packs?

quote:

Originally posted by tanglenet:
Actually what they are selling is not dry ice but gel packs (bad advertising). You can also find similar products under the names "cold ice" "gel packs" "blue ice" and "phase change material". These would work fine for shipping wine.

You are correct, the way they advertise it is a bit misleading, that is marketing I suppose.

They use a refrigerant inside the pack, but it is only $3 a pack and it is supposed to stay frozen for a few days. Just putting a layer on the top of the box would help, wouldn't it?

quote:

Originally posted by Sticky2:

quote:

Originally posted by gotapex:

I just got my Corra order, and they did the same thing. 2 gel packs though, not all 6. Wines arrived ok, 69 degrees F.

They didn't do that for me

Just regular frozen gel packs?

Yep, just a couple of these:

http://www.coldice.com/gel_packs_coldice.html

quote:

Originally posted by Sticky2:

quote:

Originally posted by tanglenet:
Actually what they are selling is not dry ice but gel packs (bad advertising). You can also find similar products under the names "cold ice" "gel packs" "blue ice" and "phase change material". These would work fine for shipping wine.

You are correct, the way they advertise it is a bit misleading, that is marketing I suppose.

They use a refrigerant inside the pack, but it is only $3 a pack and it is supposed to stay frozen for a few days. Just putting a layer on the top of the box would help, wouldn't it?

Unfortunately, a lot of these products don't have specifications indicating what temperature the gel can be frozen at. (Some gel packs "freeze" at different temperatures. These gels are made specifically for maintaining the temperature of products at, for example -20F or 32F). They should mention somewhere (if they're serious about selling to people shipping critical products) that the gel pack can freeze or phase change at X degree F and maintain that temperature for Y hour(s). Usually, the company has documented this, and presents it in marketing materials on a X/Y chart showing the temperature over time.

While the gel pack can remain cold and do it's job, the box is also a critical component. If the box is not insulated, the outside temperature and the inside temperature will equal over time pretty quick. That's why wineries use eps foam shippers. Right now they are the best product for shipping temperature sensitive products, with or without a refrigerant enclosed. The problem is that they aren't environmentally friendly. Any kind of eps shipper with or without a gel pack is better than an un-insulated shipper (enviro-friendly "egg" type packaging). And any use of a gel pack is better than no gel pack at all.

I'd think dry ice would be a pain to ship and the gel paks will thaw out if the wine wasn't shipped overnight. I buy most my wine from Premier Cru and I'm gonna wait till fall to have them shipped to Mpls. They are good about holding the wine during the summer because I use ground shipping.

I just wanted to point out two factors:

Dry Ice is a hazardous material, its not really limited as far as quantities when it comes to ground shipments, but it is for air, and if you want to avoid something getting hot, you're probably going to ship it air so it gets there faster.

Gel packs and other ice pack type products produce condensation which will ruin most labels which people tend to get very upset about, even though 99% of them aren't even going to keep the bottle once its empty, which means getting special packaging. Yeah, you can just do what other people seem to have done and replace a bottle or two with a gel pack but you risk damage the bottles that are in there.