Moving the Winery

[Boatboy24]

On Valentines Day, my wife and I made an offer on a new house that was accepted. We had our home inspection yesterday, and aside from a couple very minor things, the place is in great shape. So unless something crazy happens, it looks like Broad Run Cellars (and my family) will be moving in the next few months. I have a lot of work to do obviously, but I'm already thinking about moving the winery. The good news is, we have a much larger house and an unfinished basement where I can set up the winery, as opposed to trying to squeeze one into an already pretty full basement. Bad news? 300+ bottles of wine to move, along with barrels, carboys and equipment. I currently have 10 batches of wine in various stages of completion. Most all are clearing or cleared and simply bulk aging and/or waiting for barrel time. I'll have at least three of those bottled before the move (so there's another 100 bottles).

Our current house is not yet on the market, so we will almost surely have some 'overlap' time. My plan is to move the winery very soon after we settle. So that will be a half day affair with the help of 1 or 2 friends. Here are my thoughts:

1) Barrels: I have two 23 liter barrels. My thinking is to empty their contents into carboys for transport. Add a cup of meta solution to them and close with wooden bungs for transport. Then fill them back up upon arrival.

2) Carboys: I have a few carboy boxes, so I'll use them for empties. Full ones will be sealed with solid bungs and taped shut. I'll probably use milk crates or something like that for transport.

3) Bottles: Plan is to move them in cardboard boxes. I'll just get a hand truck and move them 3 or 4 at a time to the truck. Fortunately, the new place has a walk out basement, so I can wheel them from the driveway, around to the basement door and in.

4) Gear: Boxed up and moved. Shouldn't be a big deal there. Actually much of it isn't fragile and can probably go into spare buckets that I have from juice.

I currently have a some Gladiator gear in my garage (6' workbench and several cabinets). I don't use the bench nearly as much as I thought I would, and have more than enough cabinets. I'm thinking of turning some of that into my 'winery furniture'. I'm hoping to add a laundry sink and some other stuff, but need to figure out the logistics of the exact location in the basement and where water lines and drains are currently.

I'll be sure to post up pictures as the space develops. In the meantime, any suggestions would be appreciated - particularly regarding the move. I think most of the winery (and wine) will be moved using a friend's pickup and my Subaru Outback. It'll be tight, but we might actually be able to do it in one trip. Thanks for any input!

Jim

 

[Bergmann]

Good luck and have fun, if you have been in your home long you will be surprised at how much stuff you accumulate.

 

[Julie]

Congrats on the new house and by the sounds of it, you have a pretty solid idea on how to move your winery!

 

[DoctorCAD]

Moving sucks. Take your time and your wine will be fine. A bit bottle-shocked, but that goes away in time. Pro movers may not want liquids inside their truck, but I found a promise of a free case makes them change the policy quickly!

 

[bkisel]

Will be watching this thread as my wife and I are looking to put our house up for sale this April and move to central PA near Mansfield.

For now I've stopped making wine even though I have one kit on deck. When and if it looks like were close to selling and moving whatever is in bulk aging will be bottled and corked with synthetic cork so case orientation won't matter. Because of the distance of the move and our being older we will hire a professional moving company. I have to believe that the pros will know how to properly pack and move all our household items and should be insured for any breakage and/or damage.

If my move were closer (hour or so away) I'd pretty much move the winery just as you've described you're planning on doing.

 

[Angelina]

I just did this last year. The only thing I did differently was I racked my wine into one gallon jugs, lifting all those carboys full could be dangerous. I didn't want to risk breaking them and losing my equipment or wine. I also wanted to make it easier on the back. It took a uhaul, a truck, 3 men, 2 women, and a teenager most of a day to get it moved. You will all get a mighty workout. Cheers!

 

[Rocky]

Jim, congratulations on the new house. Sounds to me like you have a good plan just take it slowly and be very careful, and get rid of anything in your current house that you don't use and probably will not use. It is a good time for "simplifying" your life.

I have never tried it, but I did see a suggestion for moving full carboys that seemed viable. You would need a box large enough for the carboy to fit into with some space around it. Place the full carboy into a plastic garbage bag and bring the bag to the neck of the carboy secured with a rubber band. Spray the bottom of the box with expanding foam insulation for a 2 inch layer. Place the full carboy on top of the foam in the bottom of the box and foam around the full carboy about half to three-fourths the way up the height of the carboy. When the foam sets, you can safely move the box with a two-wheeler. Removing the carboy at the destination would require cutting away the cardboard box and slicing through the foam insulation with a knife. It does require some effort but seems like a good solution to protect the carboy during transportation.

Good luck.

 

[Runningwolf]

Congratulations on the new house. Exciting times ahead!

 

[sour_grapes]

Congrats, Jim! I am afraid I don't have much to add to your already-well-thought-out plan and others' suggestions. I am still puzzling over the best way to move 7 or so carboys. Taping the bungs down is a good idea, but I am still worried about whether the sloshing would push the bung out.

Your friend needs to get one of these bumper stickers:

 

[geek]

Jim, congrats and best of luck with the new house and the move.
I myself been thinking what would I do if I move, as we're planing to move to FL, probably around Tampa, and that will be a looooonnnngggg trip to move.

 

[ibglowin]

Congrats! Jealous of the new expanded winery but not so much of the move……. Keep us posted!

 

[seth8530]

Has anyone considered that perhaps the barrel would be the ideal to move the wine in the barrel? Keep in mind that the original purpose of barrels was for ease of storage and transportation. Of course, I am not in your shoes so perhaps it could be easier to move to a carboy first then move the barrel.

 

[olusteebus]

congratulations. I plan on buying some of these soon for all my carboys. I probably have a lot less than you but these would be handy

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007XDL9WK/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

Shipping makes the price way high but you can get the with free shipping if you or a friend has amazon prime and the price is $11.21

 

[REDBOATNY]

I went through this same thing last May. I had bottled almost everything. I only had a few full carboys and moved them in plastic file crates with towels packed around them.
I do not have barrels but used to help my father move them, not fun. We rolled them up and down a ladder on the cellar stairs.

I do have one suggestion, install a double bowl laundry sink. My new wine room a 12' counter with 2 single laundry sinks connected and flush mounted on one wall and a 10' counter with base cabinets on another wall. The sink setup made washing 300 bottles a breeze, Fill one with oxy wash, and the other gets a double bottle washer. I also put a hose "y" with shut offs on the faucet and leave the bottle washer hooked all the time. The other side has a 2 foot length of hose.

 

[terroirdejeroir]

Congrats on the house! The plan sounds good, please keep us all posted. We are currently building and will be moving in June/July. Like you, I have accumulated a lot of winery-related items. 350+ bottles of finished wine, 70+ gallons in bulk aging and starting two more kits today.

Please be sure to share your experiences with the move, hope the weather is good for you. When is the move date?

 

[Simpsini]

Congrats on the new house. That's always exciting. I've moved my entire life and find it a great opportunity to get rid of a lot of things I've quit using. Sounds like you have a good plan, so I don't offer any advice. I currently don't have a basement, but plan on one in my next house. Let us know how it works out.

Dave

 

[Boatboy24]

Thanks for the advice and input everyone! Very exciting times in the Boatboy household. I spent the first 20 years of my life as an Army brat and have always only moved those things I truly wanted/needed. My wife, however, is the ultimate pack rat and is emotionally attached to every thing that has ever made its way through our front door. This is our first move as a couple. The last time, I had been living in our house already, and she just moved in. We've accumulated a lot of cr@p since then.

The winery move should be relatively painless. The worst part is that due to the timing of everything, I'll probably have to skip the Chilean harvest this year. I don't want to be fermenting in the current house when it is on the market, and the logistics of fermenting in a house that I'm not yet living in are probably more than I should take on. I've got enough wine in process from last year's Chilean and California harvests that I should be able to only slightly extend the barrel aging on them and keep the barrel full until this year's CA harvest is ready to go in. It is neutral anyway, so worst case, I could just throw 6 gallons of Meta solution in there for a bit.

We are scheduled to settle on the new place on Apr 15th, and our current house is not yet on the market. Hopefully, it will be by 4/1. This overlap has its pros and cons. Among the pros though will be the ability to move some things gradually and 'declutter' the current place so it shows a little better. But the timing being late spring, I'm going to have my hands full with two yards to take care of.