Shipping from CA to East Coast

I have a few bottles with Benchmark, Winebid etc. that I am readying shipment for. It is 80F in Napa but Benchmark is telling me (i) this is an acceptable temperature to ship and (ii) if they wait 2 weeks it will be too cold to ship via ground. This response surprised me, as I assumed it made sense to wait till it was at most the mid-70s prior to shipping; however, I see it is 30s in Chicago already so maybe they assume the packages go through Chicago?

For those shipping out of Napa to the East Coast, when are you shipping wine out?

I’d be comfortable having wine shipped from Napa now. It looks as if highs are barely reaching 80 and night time temps are near freezing. It won’t be sitting in a truck cooking like it would have a few months ago.

They are probably dropping it off at 4pm so you’re already past the high. The temperatures drop really quick right now.

FWIW envoyer just emailed me to tell me they are holding a couple of boxes that had been scheduled to ship today. Too hot in Phoenix.

Depends on which transport hub the wine will travel through. While it may hit 80 during the day its getting pretty cold overnight. I think a lot of the shippers have backed up shipments due to the fires and power outages. Going to be a whole LOT of wine shipped out very soon from NorCal.

Does Benchmark ship with insulation or ice packs or just cardboard? I haven’t shipped anything with them yet, but I’m getting ready to do so soon.

I think you store at Domaine? I have them pick up from Winebid and Benchmark - they move to Napa warehouse then consolidate in their refrigerated trucking to move to NJ. Pricing is flat per box (case). Cheaper and safer than UPS/Fedex if they are picking up increments of 12 bottles per site. Break even is probably around 6 bottles per site, but peace of mind is worth something even for less.

Thanks Lee. I do store with Domaine. Do you know what Domaine charges all in for the Napa pickup/transfer, I thought it was more expensive than Fedex ground?

$40 per box (inclusive of both pickup and transport).

Got the same email.

You sure it goes through Phoenix? It could go through Flagstaff which is much cooler.

It’s not that warm in Napa and if it’s hot in Phoenix, Santa Fe, El Paso it could be a problem but nobody is that hot now. We’ve lost more wine to cold than heat. Phoenix, Santa Fe and El Paso are like high desert locations with freezing cold and no humidity at night, then 65 to 85 during the day. The gamble is when your wine goes through those cities, then the heavy humidity in Texas, Arkansas, Tennessee and Kentucky. There is never an issue if you have the wine shipped overnight but shipping costs have really cut in to the wine club and winery direct sales.

It’s not hot in El Paso, that’s for sure. PHX, I don’t know.

my last shipment from Benchmark came in a styro case shipper.

FWIW, it was 10 days ago and it was just fine.

That’s what the email said