Sultry weather can be disastrous for travelling wines. A high-tech shipping label now being used by some in the industry aims to warn the customers if the wine they are shipped has been 'cooked' due to the heat in transit.
About the size of a pack of sugar, the labels can be programmed for a range of temperatures and placed directly on the product or product packaging. A light flashes green if the product stays within specifications and yellow if it doesn't.
Information on exactly what temperatures the product reached—and at what time—can be downloaded via a portable reader into a computer spreadsheet. If there is a problem, the data show where it occurred, helpful in determining who's responsible.
Among those using the technology is WTN Services, a Napa-based shipper that has been offering the temperature monitor to customers of its retail brands.
"It's been a great success," said Chris Edwards, vice president and general manager of WTN. The labels cost WTN customers $20 a box which may be slightly expensive for low or entry level wines but can be very useful for mid range wines.
Made by PakSense, Inc., a company based in Boise, Idaho and on the market for about two years, the temperature monitors had been primarily used by the food industry but lately have been finding a market in wine shipping as well, says a PakSense spokeswoman
Temperature control is a key issue for wine. Heat speeds up aging but results in diminished flavour and some faults. If the bottles get too hot the wine is "cooked," which means it may taste flat or be otherwise flawed.
So far, data from the labels, returned from as far away as Denmark to the US have reportedly given very reliable results.
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