AFIK, moving the wine interstate is legal. My stance is that <200 gallons
and I am safe to do whatever I want.

I recently moved from NY to GA and had to xport all of my wine (carboys,
barrels and bottles) myself.

First, check on a one way enclosed trailer instead of a truck. I got mine
for around $180. Moving the wine was the sole reason I drove a car instead
of flying - a trailer was much cheaper and they would not reimburse for
anything besides mileage. Do not xport open trailer - road debris and
atmospheric conditions just seem like a damn bad idea.

Secondly, for the carboys, I made 12in. by 12in. sectioned-off partitions
that the carboys sat in. Plywood was under them with the packaging materials
composed of air trapped in plastic between the carboy and plywood. It worked
great (even kept the airlocks in) for shock absorption. I bungeed the tops
of the carboys to keep them from hitting walls and one another (the same
pkg. material between the sides of the carboys and the partitions greatly
helped). As Tom S states, keep the thermal mass together for those brief
times they might be exposed to sub freezing temps.

Now, if you cannot drive it out yourself, everything I said here is out the
window. In that case, use one of the other suggestions like taping solid
bungs down (for finished wine) but I've no idea who will move them for you.
Any MO college students in your CA area that are heading home in the summer
who will accept the burden for a fair price?


> wrote in message ...
> Hi,
> I'm moving from So. California to Kansas City, MO. I have about 200
> bottles and 10 carboys full and aging. I've already been told that
> the moving company won't touch it. I plan on renting a uhaul and
> taking it myself. First, is this legal? Then, do you have any
> specific packing & transportation suggestions? What about the
> carboys? What about freezing temperature in-route?
>
> Thanks,
> Berry