Rare Champagne Crates

Champagne crates are highly decorative and limited edition pieces. We just got in a fairly good selection, so here are some of the gems:

Dom Perignon

3 Bottle Case

6 Bottle Box

 

DP Wine Boxes and Cases are branded on all four sides and lid. The 3 bottle has a slide-top style lid, and the 6 bottle has a standard lid. The inserts on both are specially made with foam borders to further protect the bottles.

 

Cristal Double Magnum

 

 

 

One of the finer single bottle wine crates ever made. This is a highly sought after piece made of solid oak, and brilliantly finished. The lid top has a brass plate with the engraved Louis Roderer Cristal logo, and a leather latch on the front which keeps the lid closed. The inside of the crate has a double-lined cardboard insert to protect the bottle.

 

 

Krug

 

 

Inside

 

 

Krug is remarkably innovative in their designs for magnum sized wine crates, and this is no exception. The color of the above piece is somewhere between aqua blue and grey. All four sides have gold leaf embellishments, as well as the Krug logo. The inside has a built-in bottle insert set and a slot to hold the collector's Krug history booklet.

 

Taittinger

 

This is a very large imperial sized Champagne crate, and Taittinger is known for these big pieces. They are simple and elegant but not particularly decorative.

 

 

Only the most recognized Champagne vineyards produce wooden wine crates, boxes, and cases and when they do they're gorgeous!

 

We'll be updating this post as new Champagne crates come in. We don't get many in so act fast. Call or e-mail us for the latest inventory.

 

Patrick

www.winepine.com

 

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What are Wooden Wine Flat Cases?

Wooden wine bottle cases are also known as "Flats". They're designed to hold either 3 or 6 bottles in the standard 750 ML size.

Flat 6 bottle cases are primarily used for holding specific wines, but they also work well with:

-Enhancing tight shelving spaces
-Decorative accents in a wine cellar (They're often branded on multiple sides and lid)
-Square foot gardens
-Unique magazine displays (They stack very well)
-Removing the sides for wall decoration (These crates have Border-style wine panels)
-Wine-inspired woodworking projects
-They're light, easy to carry and fun to work with

The picture above shows what one looks like. Those wood inserts you see in the center are removable, and in the shape of wine bottles. The inserts are made for specific wine bottles, so not all types will fit.

As you can see, the case is designed to hold all 6 bottles in one row; Side by side. This is a different build from a standard 6 bottle wine box which stacks 3 bottles on top, 3 bottles on bottom. We focus on those in the post: What are Wooden Wine Boxes?

Average dimensions of a 6 bottle flat case: 19 1/2" L X 13" W X 4" H

6 Bottle Flat Wine Cases are most often made by Napa and Italian wineries. The percentage breakdown is below:

-70% Napa
-15% Italian
-10% France (Bordeaux and Burgundy)
-5% Other (Spain, Australia etc.)

Napa makes some really nice wooden wine cases. Some of the wineries are on this list:

Screaming Eagle
Harlan (The Maiden)
Stag's Leap
Bond
Opus One
Mondavi
Quintssa

Your flats also come in a variety of lid styles:

Standard (Lid sits on the case but is unattached)
Slide-top (Slides-out from the case)
Flip-top (Lid flips-up and is attached to the case)

The very first picture of this post is of an Opus One, which is a standard style lid. The slide-top and flip-top pictures are below:

Slide-top

Flip-top

 

I hope this was a good and descriptive post. There's a lot of different wine crate sizes, and it's not always easy to determine which one will suit you or your wine cellar best. I'd love to hear your thoughts, so please comment below and we can address any questions or concerns in future posts.

If your looking for solutions beyond 6 bottle flat cases, feel free to take a look at some of our other posts or shoot me an e-mail. I look forward to helping you with your wine storage needs or decorative ideas.

Visit us at www.winepine.com to get some wine cases or boxes for your own unique project!

 

Patrick -

 

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What Are 12 Bottle Wine Crates?

Wooden 12 bottle wine crates are designed to hold, store and protect wine in transit. They're also mankind's first mass-marketing strategy dating back several hundred years.

What they've become in modern society is something very different, and their possibilities for enhancing your décor is endless. They're not just wine cellar decoration anymore! Now we wine lovers are doing lots of interesting things with them like:

-Building wine-themed shelving units
-Bathroom vanity improvements
-Adding kitchen spice racks
-Entertainment center storage for DVD's/Blu ray/magazines
-Garden box planters
-Limoges and shadow boxes
-Wedding/shower gifts and accessories
-Banquet table accents and much more

The primary purpose of wine crates is to hold 12 (750ML) bottles of Bordeaux wine. They are usually made by wineries in Bordeaux. These are my favorite, because they're labels have different artwork, logos and designs. A few other wineries make 12 bottle wine crates, but 95% of them come from France.

Breakdown of Countries that make 12 bottle wine crates:

-80% Bordeaux
-15% Burgundy
-4% Italy
-1% Napa Valley

The labels of 12 bottle wine crates are usually on the front short side of the crate. Below is a picture:

The front side of a 12 bottle wine crate is approx. 13" Long.

An example of a long side branded engraving looks like this:

 

Long side brandings are approx. 19 1/2" Long.

 

Now these are two different crates. The La Confession is from Saint Emilion Bordeaux and only branded on the front side. Domaine De La Janasse is from Chateauneuf Du Pape France, and is branded on multiple sides.

 

You may notice that 12 bottle crates from different places do have subtle differences beside the engraved sides.

 

Bordeaux crate designs are more symbolic than the others. The design labels tend to be pictures of ancient art, historical events or ancient cote of arms. Other regions of France are sometimes engraved with these kinds of symbols as well, but more often than not they're engraved with pictures of their chateaus or vineyards instead.

 

Interesting fact: Antique wine crate labels can be found in the Smithsonian as well as the National Museum of American History.

 

Another thing different about Bordeaux is the bottle size. 750ML Bottles from any winery in Bordeaux match in overall size. This is because there's a standard among the wineries, and they all comply. This isn't the case anywhere else. Please bear this in mind when your looking to store your wine in them.

 

The average size of 12 bottle wine crates is 19 1/2" L X 13" W X 7" H.

 

Burgundy, Chateauneuf Du Pape and Sauternes crates can vary by 1-2 inches.

 

I hope this has helped give you some different ideas on decorating and/or wine storage. Please let me know if you have any questions. It's truly a pleasure of mine to work with a client.

 

Patrick

www.winepine.com

 

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