The transport of wine over long distances

Tom Dixon

Why transport wines over long distances?Over two thirds of the wine produced in New Zealand is

destined for an overseas market. Contributing $1.21 billion to the nations exports.

Last year $284 million of which came from the UK, 18’325 km away. A long way to send 57.6 million litres of wine.

The points above help to sum up the importance of the transportation of wine over long distances to the wine industry.

History Of Wine TransportAs mentioned in Homer’s Odyssey ( 8th century B.C.) It is likely

that the first vessels for transportation of wines over long distances (relative to the times anyway) would have been made from animal skins, bladders or other such material. These however would have been for small volumes only.

History Of Wine TransportThere are clay vessels such as the Qvevri that have been found around the

caucuses, dating back as far as 8000 B.C. However due to the larger size of these vessels it is likely The first significant volumes of wine to actually be transported over long distance would likely have been in an amphora which could have been transported by land or sea.

The Phoenician coast is a site historically associated with the transportation of wine in amphora, with records dating back to 3500 B.C.

It has been discovered in more recent years that parts of early china were involved with winemaking and transporting wine in clay vessels similar to the Amphora. Tests have identified the presence of fermented grapes in these clay vessels dating back as far as 7000 B.C.

History Of Wine TransportThe use of wooden vessels for transporting wine is hard to date back

exactly, due to the perishable nature of wood. It is likely though to have been the Mesopotamians transporting wine in palm wood barrels along the Euphrates.

The Gauls then introduced the use of barrels for transporting wine to the Romans at some point during the third century A.D.

History Of Wine TransportThe glass wine bottle did not come about until the 17th

century when the Romans discovered that burning coal allowed them to achieve the temperatures required for making glass.

To this day large volumes of wine are still being transported over great distances in glass bottles.

Transporting Wine In Bottles Handling glass bottles in any situation requires a great deal of care so transporting thousands of

bottles thousands of miles can be challenging. Some measures which can be taken to reduce the chance of any breakages or spoilage can be the

use of appropriate packaging such as moulded fibre trays and temperature controlled containers.

The transportation of wine in bottle both has its advantages and disadvantages. Some advantages are that the wine is ready to hit the store shelves right away and it can potentially be more flexible for order changes etc. Some of the disadvantages on the other hand are that it is more expensive to ship bottles than bulk wine, as mentioned above there is a greater risk of product loss due to bottles breaking etc and transporting bottles has a larger carbon foot print than transporting in bulk.

Approximately 13’000 bottles can be transported in an average 20ft container compared to the 30’000 potential bottles that can be transported in a Flexi container

Modern transport of wineWith the introduction of the shipping container and the

ISO standards sixty years the way in which wine is transported over long distances has changed quite a lot. As mentioned earlier transportation of bottles is still common, however due to some of the disadvantages pointed out some producers prefer the use of ISO tank containers and flexi tanks.

ISO Tank Container ISO stands for international standards organisation. the organization promotes worldwide proprietary, industrial and

commercial standards to ensure ease of trade etcThe ISO containers are calibrated set volumes, usually 24’000 litres, which

are able to be transported by road, rail or sea just like a shipping container.Some of the advantages of transporting wine in an ISO container is that

greater volumes can be transported for less money and with less carbon emissions compared to transporting in bottles. ISO containers are generally insulated also which helps to maintain a cooler temperature internally. Some of the disadvantages are that there is a greater risk of contamination or spoilage due to faulty seals etc.

ISO Tank Container

Image sourced from: http://bcagas.com/iso-tank/

Image sourced from: http://www.flickr.com/photos/hilifta/7385191950/sizes/m/

FlexitankA Flexitank it a giant multi layer plastic bladder which is goes inside a

standard shipping container and essentially fills the entire volume of the container when full of wine.

The volumes can range between 16’000 and 24’000 litres, similar to that of an ISO container.

Like the ISO container the Flexitank has its advantages with being more economical and environmentally friendly. Like the similarities that they share in advantages the Flexitank also shares the same disadvantages with the ISO in that if there is a contamination or failure of the vessel the whole batch of wine is affected. The Flexitanks also are disadvantaged by the fact that, although relatively cheap, the “bladder” is not reusable.

Flexitank

Image sourced from: http://www.flexitank.es/en/productos.htm

Image sourced from: http://www.tlmwnewswire.com/press_release_detail.php?pr_id=252

Affects of transportation over long distances on wine• Heat damage: On course to a wines final destination a wine may cross the equator or be subjected to

other hot climates If the vessel the wine is being transported in is not adequately insulated or has no cooling unit the wine can over heat and leading to detrimental effects such as developing “cooked” characteristics, dulling of fruit notes and flavours, protein hazes and even corks being pushed out due to expansion on the bottle just to name a few.

• Oxidation : If a vessel such as an ISO tank container is not sealed properly or a cork is loosened by heat

as mentioned above the wine can become oxidised leading to undesirable characters in the wine such as browning in whites, loss of aromas and flavour and even the formation of acetic acid, acetaldehyde or ethyl acetate.

• “Travel shock” Some people believe the constant movement and vibration of the wine during

transportation can affect the phenols, tannins and other compounds in the wine causing it to lose intensity of flavours and aromas.

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