Top 10 Most Colorful Wine Crates

Most Wine Crates have a natural and unfinished look. There's a few prominent vineyards that brand their wine crates with embossed colors, and they look fantastic!

1. Chateau Pavie 12 Bottle Wine Crate- Bordeaux region - St. Emilion sub-region (Slightly oversized, and has the green and red design on both sides)

 

2. Chateau Ste. Michele Exclusive 3 Bottle Wine Case - Seattle Washington (This piece was hand painted and signed by both the winemaker and artist on the inside cover)

3. Chateau D'aiguilhe 12 Bottle Wine Crate - Bordeaux region - Cotes De Castillon sub-region

 

4. Chateau Gracia Wine Panel- Bordeaux region - St. Emilion sub-region. This is one of my favorites. The center image is of two cherub angels, and has a multi-color background. 

 

5. Domaine De Marcoux 12 Bottle Wine Crate - Chateauneuf Du Pape region

 

 

6. Chateau D'aurilhac 12 Bottle Wine Crate - Bordeaux region - Haut-Medoc sub-region

 

 

7. Grey Goose 6 Bottle Wine Box - Not for wine, but Grey Goose unveiled this special piece 3 years ago and never did it again. The design is on both sides of the lid. Love it!

 

 

8. Chateau L'Hermitage 12 Bottle Wine Crate - Bordeaux region - St. Emilion sub-region.

 

 

9. Napanook 12 Bottle Wine Crate- Napa Valley region - Yountville city. This is a long side design, and the other long side of the crate has a different design but matching colors.

 

 

10. Brunello Di Montalcino 6 Bottle Wine Box - Italy - Brunello region 

 

 

Depending on the time of year and specific wine release dates, we often have colorful wine crates in stock. Visit www.winepine.com to contact us on current inventory!

 

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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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Why are Some Wine Bottle Sizes Different?

Different wine making countries are known for making assorted wine bottle sizes. The 750 ML size is by far the most common standard sized bottle (Magnums are twice the size). When we talk about the standard of wine bottle sizes we're referring to Bordeaux. These are high-shoulder with straight sides.

Average Standard Bottle Size: 12" tall by 3" wide

Wineries from different countries craft their bottles like the Bordeaux standard, but they don't make them exactly the same way. Some are wider, taller or have different shoulder lengths.

Burgundy and Chateauneuf wineries make wider sized bottles. These have wide bodies and bottoms, more slender shoulders, and are slightly shorter than Bordeaux. The Wide Bottle format is also used by Italian, Spanish and Australian wineries as well.

Average Wide Bottle Size: 11 3/4" tall by 3 1/2" wide

Outside of France, you have the large and tall bottles made by many Napa and South African wineries. Napa is especially fond of the Large and Tall style. You'll have a great difficulty placing a Napa bottle into a Standard Bottle wine crate.

Average Large and Tall Bottle Size: Can vary. Some Napa bottles can be as tall as 14" tall by 4" Wide.

Lastly we have Champagne bottles. This is usually a flute-style bottle, with a tall, slender bottle and very small shoulders.

Average Champagne Standard Bottle Size: 12 1/2" tall by 2 1/2" wide

There's a great article on this I recommend checking out:

http://www.storageltd.com/blog/how-to-store-wine-bottle-of-different-sizes

Also, when your ready to start placing your wines in wooden wine boxes or crates, please let me know. We can find out which style bottles you have, and measure out the sizes to find your perfect crates!

Patrick
www.winepine.com

 

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What are Wine Panels?

Wooden Wine Panels are the engraved sides of wine crate boxes, crates and cases.

There are three types:

-Collector's
-Border
-Winery Branded

My personal favorite of the three is Collector's because there are many different kinds. Most of them are from wineries that are thousands of years old. A lot of these pieces display priceless artifacts, historical artwork and ancient landmarks that date back to the Roman Empire. You just can't find designs like this anymore. Just imagine how they'll look in your wine cellar!

Below is a brief description on the Collector's style, as well as more info on the Border and Winery Branded. Each one is from either a wooden wine crate, wine box or wine case.

Collector's panels have the designs and pictures of the winery engraved on them, and all are mostly the same size. They're a best seller, and the most attractive of the three.

 (3) Collector's Wine Panels

Average size: 12" L X 6" H

Crate type: 12 Bottle Wine Crate

Border Panels are like pieces of a picture frame. They are thin and narrow with smaller winery brandings and winery lettering. They do vary in size.

(5) Classic Border Panels

Crate Type: 6 Bottle Flat Wine Case

Average size: 9" L X 4" H

Winery Branded Panels are often the same size as Collector's, but don't have any designs or pictures. They are branded with winery lettering and numbering.

(1) Winery Branded Panel

Average Size: 12" L X 6" H

Crate Type: 6 Bottle Wine Box

All three of these styles can be mixed and matched into a wall, floor or ceiling plan. A lot of the times I recommend Borders for the frame, and assorted Collector's and Winery Branded inside the frame. This will make your wine panel project into a one-of-a-kind montage.

Wine panels can last forever if they're finished. They can be glazed with Polyurethane or any other wood finish. Also, any kind of stain to match a color in your décor can be used as well.

How to install them:

I recommend working with a contractor, carpenter or woodworker. This will allow you to view the project objectively.

If you decide to finish the panels first, I'd recommend working with a finish carpenter. Once the panels are completely finished, the installation can begin.

Liquid Nails in a can (not a tube) is the preferred adhesive. Use a notched trawl to spread the Liquid evenly across the back of each panel. This is similar to installing tile. Adhere the panel to the surface. Keep going until your surface area is filled with panels.

Cuts and trims may be needed along the way. This is another reason why it's preferable to work with a contractor/woodworker.

Once your project is completed send us a picture! We'd love to display your beautiful work on www.winepine.com

 

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Seven Facts You Probably Didn’t Know About Champagne

Champagne is a world famous drink, and is many people’s tipple of choice when it comes to luxury and celebration. As you might imagine, the drink is steeped in history and tradition. To you and I, it might just be a pleasant bubbly beverage, but for many, it’s a lifetime passion and obsession.

Let’s take a look at seven facts you probably didn't know about champagne:

1. You should always be cautious when opening a bottle of champagne. The cork can fly out at an astonishing 60 miles per hour or more, and this could obviously cause someone a nasty injury! Ideally, take the bottle outside and point it away from any windows, animals, or people.

2. Champagne is now synonymous with celebrations, and this tradition goes back a long way. It was an important aspect of parties in Britain during the French Revolution, and the higher price point ensured that it remains to be seen as a luxurious treat rather than an everyday essential.

3. Bubbly was first produced in England in the 1500s. Now though, there are very strict trading regulations that mean that only sparkling wines produced in that particular region of France can call themselves champagne.

4. Glass shape and temperature can have a massive impact on the overall taste and finish of a sparkling wine. If you want to enjoy your drink at its very best, you should make sure that you’re prepared. It may be worthwhile investing in some crystal champagne flutes. Before drinking, place the bottle in an ice bucket, half filled with water, for around 20 minutes. 

5. Non-vintage varieties of Champagne account for around 80-90% of all that is produced, and tends to be much less expensive. For a drink to be classified as vintage, it must have been made from grapes harvested in one single year.

6. Though James Bond is perhaps usually best associated with the martini, it’s champagne that he drinks most during the film adaptations. To date, he’s drunk nearly 40 glasses. 

7. Marilyn Monroe once took a bath in 350 bottles of bubbly. Surely, this is the ultimate in decadence!

 As you can see, the world of champagne is complex and full of wonder. Once you start reading about the subject, you’ll find that there are masses of knowledge out there just waiting to be discovered. And if it’s your choice of celebratory drink, it’s well worth finding out the facts.  

Do you have any more interesting facts about champagne? We’d love to hear them!

This article was brought to you by Ruth Hinds on behalf of Gurasu. Gurasu specialises in fine crystal products for the more discerning customer, with ranges that include crystal vases, whisky tumblers and much more.