wine skin review

I assumed I would be buying wines, olive oils and/or vinegars on my trip to Italy and I didn't want an "accident" to wreak havoc in my luggage, so I looked into buying something to protect my purchases in transit.  After reading a bunch of reviews on amazon.com, I decided to buy Wine Skins (about $8 for a 2-pack).  It is basically bubble wrap in the shape of a bottle which you can seal securely so that your bottle won't break - or if it does (argh!) - at least the spill won't ruin your luggage.

So did it work?



I'm happy to report that we did bring some bottles back from Italy, and they all arrived home safe and sound.  In fact, I think we already drank most of them.  Italian wines are so tasty and inexpensive!  

Two of our favorites are pictured below which we picked up in Greve in Chianti.  (If anyone knows if they are available in the U.S., let me know!)  The Varvara is reminiscent of a Santa Rita Hills pinot noir and the other is a divine rose.

Even though the wine skins are designed for one-use - you can easily re-use them again.  Just bring your own masking tape and you can seal the packaging again and again so long as you are careful and do not rip the body of the wine skin.

If you know you will be buying a few bottles, then this is a small investment to make to ensure that your precious cargo is safe.  It would be terrible to get home from vacation to have broken wine bottles in your luggage.  I don't even want to think about it....