Why to wineries continue to do this? It absolutely makes no sense to have your wine sit over the weekend in a truck or warehouse in florida. Oh, and don’t give me any warning so I can change it!!! Rant over - Have a great Friday!
I’m not meaning to be unduly confrontational, Dave, but that’s on the buyer. Virtually every on-line purchase I make—whether from a retailer or a winery—has a space for additional shipping instructions. “Ship only on a Monday or Tuesday” should be a stock response.
Peter, You are not being confrontational, but you are assuming that I did not and do not add those comments. I always do. In this particular case, I actually gave and exact shipping date that was 2 weeks after the purchase. That way my Monte Bello would be received on the same day. Perhaps I need to use a larger font.
This one frustrates me because I am out of town for the week. Not the end of the world, but I’m always worried about heat damage here.
That’s a whole other story, Dave. If any winery or retailer ignores your request, you should at least have a conversation with them about that. Depending on circumstances, you might have cause to refuse the shipment or return the wine. Lawyers?
Why does that need to be said? What winery owner doesn’t know leaving wine in a truck or warehouse could lead to problems [and never is a good idea]?
My case of 2014 Patricia Green Berserker Cuvee went out ground shipment from Oregon today (Friday). I don’t think I thought to put “ship on a Monday or Tuesday,” but it seems odd for that not to be fairly standard practice.
I’m sure it won’t hurt anything at this time of year, mid 70s here in OC, 50s and 60s in Portland, not sure where the wine is going to languish over the weekend. But it does seem odd to do that on a Friday anyway.
I just did this, yesterday. Florida is looking to have two days of cool weather next week, perhaps for the last time til god knows when. But those cool days are just Monday and Tuesday. So there is no way to send it out on Monday and hit that window.
To do it right though, the winery needs to know the route the shipments will take. Here is what I did…
The wine is going out 2 day. It left the warehouse yesterday at 4:30. So it left at 59 degree warehouse in cardboard/styro and went on a truck as temps were dropping from 79F here. They arrived in the Port of Oakland, literally on the water, where it was 60F and stayed there overnight. Tonight it flies on a plane, whose cargo hold probably will be 35F. It lands in the morning Saturday at UPS in Louisville, KY, where the high temps the next two days are going to be 50F. Then another plane to Florida at night on Sunday and delivered on Monday or Tuesday where temps won’t get past 78F.
So it can make sense.
If the winery is sending it ground shipping, if it has to travel across the country it will take at least 5 business days anyway. So by sending it out on Friday, it arrives on Wed or Thurs. Since about 20% of all shipments fail on the first delivery attempt, wineries want wiggle room for second and third attempts.
That’s the thinking at least. The key is to know where the package will route through, not just the weather at the final destination.
I fret over every little detail of shipping and get more stressed over shipping than selling the wine. Probably because I was a collector before I got in the biz. I hate wine that gets hit with heat.
Thank you Roy!!
It does help and shows that extra level of customer service when the winery lets you know exactly what is going on!
Yes Roy sent me an e-mail stating the above.
Thanks Roy!
I think that, in general, wineries if given directions will NOT ship out on Thurs or Fri 2 day air for the reasons you mentioned. Roy’s situation is somewhat unique and different - I don’t think most will consider the factors that he does.
That said, many wineries that pass along their wines to third party shippers are at their mercy it appears. Even though wineries are still ‘responsible’ for the wines, these third party shippers sometimes do go ‘rogue’ and ship differently than requested. Ultimately, that is the fault of the winery, not this other shipper, but it can and does happen.
At the end of the day, most wineries should still ‘stand behind’ their products, and in the case their are issues with the bottles, they should make good. If they don’t, well . . . that’s another thread 
Cheers