Hot Weather Shipping

[Rebel Rose]

Some of our members order expensive wines for delivery via common carrier, and many of you belong to wine clubs.

Have you ever received your wine too hot, too cold, corks pushed out, bottles broken? Has your wine been delivered on Monday during 90 degree weather, after sitting in a carrier warehouse all weekend?

Who's at fault? The winery? The delivery company? Do you know? What can you do about it?

What type of packaging do you prefer? Do you have a preference?

Do you think wineries should offer free shipping? If so, do you feel that $30-$40 wines should be shipped for free, or wines in the $70-$90 per bottle range?

Does anybody want to know why I'm asking?

[melkor]

I order all my wine from places that will hold the bottles until the the weather gets cold. The rest of it I pick up in person. I don't mind paying shipping, I do hate those big styrofoam shippers but there isn't a good alternative - packing in those peanuts is far worse. During shipping season (now) I have my wine shipped on Mondays and they always show up by Friday. The only exception is wine purchased at auction, then I have it sent overnight.

[mike volker]

All of the wineries and clubs that ship to me only ship after september and before june. So far no damage.

Best,

Mike

[moosnsqrl]

I have been enjoying wine shipments for nearly 10 years and have been very pleased with the results. I believe they do tend to ship Monday or Tuesday and nearly always arrive on Friday. I'm probably harder on the wines I purchase on trips and drive around with in the trunk of a rental car for several days than UPS is.

I agree about the shippers but I at least keep a few around, tape them shut and check them, empty, as luggage when I'm going to wine country. It saves having to buy new ones for the onesy-twosy bottles I invariably collect and my tree-hugger conscience is a little less troubled by the waste if I can reuse them.

[CtznCane]

We belong to several wine clubs and have ordered directly from other wineries as well. While we do go to pick-up wines on occasion we've never had a problem with the shipping.

Of the wineries that we get wine from, I've talked to them about shipping and none of them ship on a friday in order to avoid wines being laid up somewhere over the weekend. Now for us, being close to the wineries (under 50 miles to napa and under 90 to the Alexander Valley) means that our shipments are typically arriving next day even when sent by ground ups. To this point I've not experienced any problems regardless of what time of year the shipment has arrived.

Yes, Rose, why are you asking, we do want to know?

[Rebel Rose]

    Yes, Rose, why are you asking, we do want to know?

A combination of professional and personal curiosity.

I've been reading another wine forum where every third thread is a complaint about either TCA or winery shipping practices.

So on the one hand, it's a professional double check that our practices are satisfactory--we only ship in the fall and spring, only Monday through Wednesday, separate out long distance shipments to be sent on Mondays, no shipping during heat spikes, and we use durable but recyclable shippers. We will also hold shipments and send them on specific dates, as long as the request is within a reasonable period.

We also try to be aware of general weather conditions in the rest of the U.S. as well, but frankly, it is beyond me to track changing weather conditions everywhere, so I rely on my customers to let me know if they want their shipments held because of extreme weather conditions.

But on the other hand, I'm also personally curious, because on this other forum, it's complain, complain, complain . . . and yet my experience with customers is that most of them want their wine right away! I frequently have to explain our shipping practices to customers (who are actually grateful for the extra care 99% of the time). So to hear a few people say, "Hey, I get my wine just fine, no problems," is reassuring indeed.