Can I fly with a bottle of Champagne in my checked luggage? Will it explode?
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Dear Dr. Vinny,
Can I fly with a bottle of Champagne in my checked luggage? Will it explode?
—Tim, West Covina, Calif.
Dear Tim,
Your bottle of bubbly should be fine, but I’d still protect the rest of your luggage by putting the bottle in a plastic bag or one of the bubble wrap–type wine skins that you can purchase and blow up with air. And make sure your bottle is protected with plenty of padding against rattling around. Might I suggest your dirty laundry? (Newspaper also works wonders.)
Remember that the fizz in Champagne and other sparkling wines comes from dissolved carbon dioxide gas. One good tidbit to know about carbon dioxide is that it’s more soluble at cold temperatures. That’s why it’s important to make sure carbonated beverages are nice and chilled before you open them.
A warm bottle of bubbly or a warm can of beer or soda are likely to gush everywhere when opened. A properly cold one, on the other hand, will stay calm, and you’re much less likely to waste any wine. Thankfully for the bottle of bubbles in your suitcase, the cargo hold is pretty chilly—it’s typically cooler than the main cabin, anywhere from 40° to 50° F.
There is a lot of pressure inside a bottle of sparkling wine, somewhere between 70 and 90 pounds per square inch. But thankfully, bubbly bottles are designed to withstand that. (Champagne bottles have even survived over a century at the bottom of the ocean.) Cargo holds are pressurized, just like the main cabin, so your bottle shouldn’t be exposed to any extremes that would risk an explosive—and messy—situation.
All that said, I’d still be careful when traveling with any type of wine. There’s no accounting for how long your suitcases might be sitting outside on the tarmac—where hot or cold temperatures could put your bottles at risk—or how roughly they might be tossed about with the rest of the luggage. For that reason, I always ask the baggage agent to mark my bags with fragile stickers or tags.
Especially if you’re traveling internationally, there may be limits on how much wine (and other types of alcohol) you’re allowed to travel with—so be sure to check ahead of time.
When you get to your destination, I’d let the bottle rest for a few days to avoid any possibility of bottle shock. And don’t forget to chill it down completely before opening and enjoying it. Cheers!
—Dr. Vinny
