🍷 Bulk wine
Wine shipped not in bottles but in large batches in tanks.
Bulk wine is wine that is shipped not in bottles but in large batches in tanks. It is bought wholesale from the producer and taken to another country or another bottler, and bottles are filled on arrival. It is a significant part of world wine trade.
Wine is shipped in bulk in several ways: in a wine tanker by sea, in road tankers, and in flexitanks, large soft plastic containers fitted into an ordinary shipping container. A flexitank holds about 24,000 litres. This is more convenient than thousands of bottles, cheaper and lighter: less glass and fewer emissions per unit of wine.
Bulk wine is tied to the transport of raw materials, like milk brought by tanker to a dairy. It also becomes part of various brands. Quality depends on shipping conditions: wine must be protected from heat and oxygen. Good bulk wines come in all classes, but more often they are table wines for the mass market.
What it includes
How it connects to Wine
🍷 Bulk wine → kind of → 🏪 Wine storage and trade → kind of → 🍷 Wine
Links
- Previous step
- 🍷 Wine tanker ship
- Next step
- 🍷 Flexitank, 🍷 Wine tank truck
- Part of
- 🏪 Wine storage and trade
- Wine and milk
- 🚛 Raw milk transport
Frequently asked questions
What is bulk wine?
Wine shipped in large batches in tanks rather than in bottles.
What is a flexitank?
A large soft container inside a shipping container, holding about 24,000 litres.
Why is wine shipped in bulk?
It is cheaper and lighter than moving thousands of bottles.
What to read next
- 🚛 Raw milk transport — Farm → dairy plant by milk tanker, usually within a day.
- 🍷 Wine tank truck — A truck with a tank for carrying wine.
- 🍷 Wine tanker ship — A ship with tanks for carrying wine in bulk by sea.
Similar
🍷 Wine tanker ship · 🍷 Wine auction · 🍷 En primeur · 🍷 Wine list · 🍷 Wine cooperative · 🍷 International Organisation of Vine and Wine