Had a bottle of 2012 Savart Expression earlier this year that blew my mind. Had no expectations of that bottle, which I had brought as part of a collection of wines I poured blind for our dork group. Following that experience with the Savart, I searched hard for it, but was having no luck. I had been lucky to source 2 bottles of it for $90 each in 2017, FWIW.
Fast forward to last month, I finally found some locally here in LA. However, the price to acquire had jumped and the wine all-in was $175 to get it to my door. For me, it was worth it, as I wanted to try it again and see if the experience was repeatable. Hell, I have it on my WOTY list so it needs to be vetted to see if it can repeat in more than one setting/instance (at least for me).
Opened the bottle on Saturday, it is corked. Frigging TCA of wet cardboard. Ok, so maybe at a smaller tariff, I don’t chase for replacement of the wine or some compensation in exchange for the failed experience. But at $175, I needed to. Sent a note via Facebook to Frederick Savart on Sunday AM, no reply yet. Emailed the retailer, and he is willing to credit me a good portion of the price for a future order. Good on him.
My view? The retailer is not on the hook. Not his product nor his issue. To me, Savart is the moving party, yet they won’t reply. And FWIW, I had sent Frederic Savart a note earlier this year when I had the first wow moment with the Expression bottling, yet no reply either.
So, in your view, who should make good on this for me? Or, am I to just eat the $175? Of note, Savart is a small but increasingly popular winery in Champagne who at some point needs to find a way to at least acknowledge the customer, good or bad.
Love to hear some replies here.