I just received my allocation from Spottswoode from a company called Vine Vault. OMG what a company!! Here is the letter from Spottswoode:
“Dear Robert,
As spring is here and the weather is warming up, I am very excited to let you know that we have a new shipping option for your area. The company, which is a storage facility as well as transportation, is called Vine Vault.
Vine Vault offers white glove, fully refrigerated services. Your wine will be transported and delivered at approximately 55 degrees in original packaging boxes from the winery.
Vine Vault will be contacting you directly to arrange a convenient time to deliver your wine. If you are going to be out of town, just let them know and they will hold it at their temperature controlled facility and will deliver when convenient for you. Please know that delivery could take up to six weeks - in most cases it will be sooner, but they need time to fill their trucks in order to make this work.”
The wine arrived today in 92 degree weather in perfect condition just as promised. Really an amazing thing to receive wine safely in May. Until now, the shipping window here in South Florida has been very narrow and unreliable. And every shipment there is a worry that the wine will be boiled if the timing is not just right. Even shipping via Fed Ex Cold Chain is not reliable. Although the shipment goes to the local distribution center on a refrigerated truck, it is delivered on the regular nonrefrigerated delivery truck. That can mean the wine is exposed to extreme temps for hours, especially if the deliveries are in the afternoon like I receive at my office. Ice packs in styrofoam come melted and are of no value in these situation. This company is a game changer…I only hope other wineries in Napa or elsewhere become aware of its services. And the cost was the same as next day.
Wow! Great to know. I stopped accepting deliveries (also in south florida) a while ago.
How much extra are they charging for it over regular shipping?
I ordered Next Day Air and Spottswoode substituted the Vine Vault service for the same price…$55.00 for four bottles
My vine vault charges 50 or 55 for a box. Box holds up to 10 or 12 depending on the bottles. Downside is it’s the same 50 or 55 for 1 or 10 bottles.
Nick, where are you located?
Here’s a link to the website:
https://www.vinevault.com/services/winery-services/
Looks like it’s only available in Atlanta, Austin, Dallas/Ft Worth, Houston and San Antonio.
Are the charges you’re paying total shipping charges or ‘in addition to’ getting the wines to them in Texas, where they are located?
Cheers.
I store a little bit of wine at Vine Vault in Austin, but I’ve never used them for shipping. The location is an old bank office downtown with a buried vault that they’ve retrofitted it into wine lockers. We don’t have a lot of storage/receiving options, so I was happy to see them open here.
I’ve never used them for shipping because at most I’m shipping 5 or 6 cases at a time, and I prefer not to wait until they’ve palletized a truck worth of wine. I either wait until weather isn’t an issue, or if I have a little concern I’ll ship two day air with icepacks.
The $55 charge was for shipping 4 bottles…this was not in addition to any other shipping charge. When I called and spoke to the company, because I was curious about the logistics, they said my wine transited through their Atlanta branch. Apparently they are in the process of opening a location in Miami in the next several months and have already started construction 
So how did the wines get from Napa to Atlanta?
Not sure…refrigerated large 18 wheeler truck from Napa to Atlanta…refrigerated truck from Atlanta to my office (and other points south?) in Fort Lauderdale. Pretty amazing don’t you think?
They run a refrigerated truck monthly around napa/Sonoma back to Atlanta from what I’m told. Have used the service a few times.
The million dollar question is: Is this legal?
Are cucumbers better pickled?
Send me the million, and I’ll send you the answer. ![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers")
Why would it not be legal? The company is a storage facility that also has “distribution” trucks. Instead of traveling on FedEx or UPS or whomever, the wine travels on Vine Vault trucks…
Way would that be any more legal than and other 3rd party carrier? Especially if they cross state lines?
Because it’s a winery shipment
OK. But I was thinking about them shipping wines NOT from the winery. They would have the same constraints.