Wine Case Box

Case layouts and what drives the size

Two layouts cover most of what we build. Bottles standing upright side by side reads as a shelf set and shows the labels straight on. Bottles lying in a tray reads as a gift and packs flatter. Neither is better in the abstract. Standing cases are taller and put more load through the base. Lying cases need a tray that grips each bottle along its length, and the lid has to clear the capsules.

The case size comes from the bottle count and the real bottle. Measure the shoulder diameter and the total height including the capsule, not the nominal volume. Two bottles sold as the same volume can differ enough at the shoulder to change the cavity. Send us those two numbers and a bottle sample, and the layout question usually answers itself.

Reference products on the site run to four and six bottles: a custom logo magnetic closure four or six bottle wine gift box, and a custom luxury wooden wine box with high gloss lacquer finish that holds four. Twelve bottle cases are not in that range. They are a custom structure, and we treat them as a fresh development rather than a scaled up six.

Dividers, trays, and one cavity per bottle

Inside the case you have a choice: dividers, or a single insert with one cavity per bottle. Either way, each cavity must hold its own bottle independently. That last word is the whole job. If one cavity is loose, that bottle moves, and a moving bottle is what damages the bottle next to it. A shared void across two positions is a defect waiting to happen.

Cavity depth matters as much as cavity diameter. Too shallow and the bottle sits on its base with nothing around the shoulder. Too deep and you fight the box closed and the lid presses on the capsule. The insert should take the bottle at the body and at the shoulder, so the weight rides on the insert, not on the neck.

For a lying tray, add a stop at the base end. Bottles slide toward the low corner in transit if nothing locates them. A tray that holds on diameter alone will pass a hand check and fail a van ride.

Board, facing paper, and where the load goes

Board standard is greyboard 1200 g minimum, 1400 g recommended for spirits. Facing paper is 157 g minimum, in specialty paper. We don't run recycled greyboard and we don't run high moisture paper. Moisture is the quiet killer here: it moves the board after the box is made, and a case that closed cleanly at assembly can bow at the lid line a week later.

A loaded case is heavy, so think about where that weight travels. The base carries it, and the base is the panel most likely to be under specified on a multi bottle job. The handle or the lid closure carries it too, every time someone lifts the case off a shelf by the handle or the lid edge. Those two points deserve the attention, not the front panel.

In a case, the corner bottles take the hardest knocks. Corners are where a drop lands first and where a stack load concentrates. If the insert is soft at the corners, the corner bottle is the one that moves.

The four point hold and the fit checks

Insert rule: the bottle is held at four points, with no unsupported neck or shoulder. Four points means the bottle can't rock in any direction. Two points on the body and two at the shoulder is the usual arrangement, and it has to be true for every cavity, not just the middle one.

A filled box passes three checks. A 10 second shake with no movement. A 45 degree tilt with no slide. A full inversion with no release. Run them on the assembled case with the real bottles in it, not on an empty shell. If a bottle shifts on the tilt, the cavity is loose. If it drops on the inversion, the shoulder support is missing.

Our control tolerance is insert plus or minus 1 mm, box body plus or minus 2 mm. On a four bottle case those tolerances stack across the row, which is why we check the fit at both ends of the case, not just the first cavity.

Our in-house pre-shipment checks

Before a case ships we run a 1.2 m drop on all six faces. All six, because a case lands on its corner and its lid edge as often as it lands flat. Then a stacking top load of 40 kg or more for 24 hours. Then a transport vibration simulation, with no internal movement allowed.

The no internal movement part is the strict one. A case can come through the drop with the board intact and still fail here, because the bottles have shifted inside and the inserts have taken a set. That's the failure we're looking for, and it's the one a visual check misses.

These are our in-house checks, run on our own builds. They tell you how the case behaves in our hands. They are not a substitute for your own transit trial with your bottles and your route.

Colour, samples, and the hard colours

Colour control runs on Pantone matching, first article approval, and mid run sampling. Black, deep blue and burgundy are the hardest to hold. On a large case those three show every shift, because there's more surface for the eye to read and the panels are printed separately. If your brand colour is one of them, expect to look at a proof before anything else happens.

Two sample types do two different jobs. A blank sample proves the structure: cavity fit, lid clearance, the four point hold. A printed sample proves the visual: colour, finish, registration. Don't try to approve both from one sample. Approve the structure first, then the print.

For a wooden case with a high gloss lacquer finish, the lacquer is the visual, and it's also the surface that shows handling. Look at the sample under the light it will sit under in the shop, not under a desk lamp.

When a case box is the wrong call

A case is the wrong choice when the box has to survive a courier network on its own. Multi bottle cases are display and gift structures. If the case is going to be shipped as the outer pack, with a label on it and nothing else, use a shipping box and keep the case for the shelf. Our wine shipping boxes exist for that leg of the job.

It's also wrong when the bottles in the set aren't identical. One cavity per bottle means one bottle size per case. Mixed sets need a different insert approach, and that's a development job, not a catalogue pick.

And skip the case if the buyer only wants one bottle. A four bottle case with three empty cavities looks like a mistake. Use a single bottle gift box instead.

What to send us

Send box dimensions or a bottle sample, a reference design, the quantity, and any special requirements. If you have no dimensions yet, the bottle sample is enough to start. We'll measure shoulder diameter and total height including the capsule, then come back on layout, insert type, and board grade.

The eight production steps run from online consultation and design confirmation through plate making and proofing, machine printing, machine lamination, machine box making, hand assembly, and quality inspection and packing. Hand assembly is where the inserts and the dividers go in, and it's where a case is won or lost. We do that in house.

Payments are T/T or PayPal. Shipping is air, sea, or express. If the case is part of a set with a bag, say so at the start, because the bag and the case should be specified together.

Questions buyers ask

Send a bottle sample or your box dimensions and we'll come back on layout, insert type, and board grade for your case. Get a Quote