Flying with a bottle or two of your favorite vintage is easy (and disaster-proof) if you keep these tips in mind.
Traveling can be stressful. Traveling with wine is potentially wardrobe ruining—just imagine all that beautiful Bordeaux soaking your Equipment silk shirt (shudder). But packing wine doesn’t have to spell disaster. Whether you want to bring back a few bottles from your next trip to Napa or plan to travel home with your dad’s favorite Barolo for the holidays, these are just a few tips and tricks to ensure all that vino stays in the bottle where it belongs.

First things first: Don’t—we repeat, don’t—make the mistake of packing wine in your carry-on. It’s too much liquid to bring on the plane, which means, best case, you have to check your luggage. Worst case (and we’ve heard of this happening), you’ll have to ditch your booze at the airport. No one wants that, so plan to check when flying with wine.

If you’re looking to seriously expand your wine store, you might want to consider a special wine suitcase. It’s a great option if you’re looking to travel with 10-12 bottles, but be warned: It’s also a lot of suitcase. You’ll be dragging it around empty on your adventures until the wine is bought and loaded, which can get cumbersome.

If you’re traveling relatively light, the best way to keep your precious cargo safe is to use what you already have—namely, a pair of long socks and an oversized scarf or a sweatshirt. To pack one bottle, simply stuff it in one of the socks (you want a pair long enough that the bottle fits completely, ideally with a bit of excess sock at the top), wrap the second sock around the neck of the bottle (which is the part that’s easiest to break in transit), and then roll the whole thing in your scarf. When you’re ready to pack, simply lay down a few pieces of clothing, place the wrapped wine in the center, and cover with more clothing. It’s best to fill your suitcase as much as possible, so the wine bundle stays exactly in place. We demonstrated in this video so you can see just how easy it is. Cheers!