Delivering wine requires tight temperature control because any failure would lead to rapid deterioration. After all, wines exposed to very high or very low temperatures may greatly affect their quality (and possibly compromise the whole shipment).
For example, freezing temperatures will make the water content of the wine to expand. This may introduce cracks on the bottles and expose the wine to air. In addition, the spills will also lead to significant financial losses.
On the other hand, high temperatures (e.g. higher than 25℃) may accelerate chemical reactions. Every 10℃ increase may double the rate of those chemical reactions and result to unpleasant “off-flavours.”
Wine transport is similar to wine storage
Wine merchants and quality control specialists are careful about temperature control because they’re aware of the effects of temperature on wine ageing.
The same thing applies with wine transport. After all, the transport and logistics require significant time of storage. The difference is there are more possible failure points when the wines are in transit.
For instance, storage areas are often climate-controlled environments. Temperature variations are minimal. Vibrations are also minimal which can keep the wines steady and undisturbed. In contrast, transport may introduce swinging temperatures and unpredictable vibrations. Aside from physical damages to the bottles, chemical reactions (and even microbial growth) may occur especially if there’s mishandling.
That’s why wine manufacturers and distributors are careful when it comes to the transport of their goods. Any mishandling can result to significant financial losses. Even just one sign of mishandling (e.g. failure to maintain a healthy temperature inside vans and trucks) may indicate failure in the other steps of the supply chain.
How refrigerated delivery companies do it
There are two ways companies maintain the ideal temperature inside vehicles. One is by using ice and insulating the whole container to slow down the melting. The other is by mechanical refrigeration systems (similar to using the refrigerator wherein you can somehow adjust the settings).
As mentioned earlier, freezing temperatures may cause the wine to expand and compromise the bottle. The ice may induce that freezing and expansion which is why refrigerated transport companies use more sophisticated methods instead.
In mechanical refrigeration, it’s crucial to maintain the temperature (around 10℃) to prevent or slow down undesirable chemical reactions. This could also be a good temperature level to discourage microbial growth.
The key here is to choose a refrigerated delivery company with a solid track record. They’ve already serviced many businesses (and those businesses continuously rely on timely deliveries). This way, you won’t have any worries regarding the goods arriving or coming out of your site.
How to deliver wine
Here at COOLTRANS, we can take care of the wine transport using our quality fleet and reliable drivers. Aside from tight temperature control, we also enable internet tracking so you can monitor the shipment.
Contact us today and we’ll meet your requirements and time-critical schedules. We accommodate requests of all scopes including single carton deliveries and 8-pallet loads.
