Florida Retailer’s opinion on Summer Shipping

A local retailer emailed this bit of education on shipping wine during the summer to all his customers.

Interesting take…





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As a corollary, wine storage in less than ideal conditions is similar.
Yes, if your storing expensive champagne over your oven, it won’t last long. But if your storing strong red wine in a guest room closet that’s in an air conditioned house, you’re not going to have much trouble. Maybe if you store it thirty years . . . but that’s not what most people do.
Years ago, I went to a blind tasting of reds and whites. Once the comments about each wine were made, the unveiling revealed pairs of identical bottles. One of each had been stored in a perfect cellar, the other had spent the summer in the trunk of a wine reps car - in Florida. Most people preferred the trunk wine.
This stuff is pretty tough.
Most of the time.
Best, jim

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LOL he doesn’t sell grand cru burgs because he doesn’t like dealing with assholes. I like him already.

I agree with much of what he says. Most wine (certainly the wine he sells) is sturdier than many think, and in particular, most wine is more forgiving of brief exposure to higher temps than commonly acknowledged.

But the fact that heat won’t usually be a problem is hardly an excuse for subjecting wine to it. I am not in the business of doing things that “usually” won’t be a problem, but not infrequently will.

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Well said. You have to weigh your risks. I might ship cheap wines during the summer if I really want it now but I wont do that with more expensive wines.

I think the key takeaway is that fine wine is expensive (whether it’s $30/btl or $3000/btl, it’s still expensive in the pantheon of beverages). You can either be sure you did all you can for the wine to show its best when you pull the cork - if that matters to you - or not if it doesn’t. I don’t think it’s surprising that on a board of wine enthusiasts, most of us prefer to do everything within our control.

Also … put me in the camp that thinks it’s hilarious he doesn’t want to sell GC burgs because he thinks the buyers are assholes.

I agree that wine is sturdier than people often think. But what is he shipping? Daou? Caymus? The Prisoner?

How could you tell if those wines were damaged?

Moreover, if he’s shipping and it gets there in a day or two and was exposed to temps even in the high 70s, that’s not likely fatal, unless it’s a “natural” wine and then all bets are off anyway - again, how could you tell if those wines were damaged? travelin

But you never know. He did say he stopped shipping in the southern states so he concedes that wine is not invincible. The problem is that shipping to the “northern” states can be a real crapshoot. Illinois can see temps in the high 90s. So can Michigan. And if the wine is in a FedEx truck that’s travelling in heat, is then parked outside to be sure to catch the first heat of the day, and is then transferred to another truck to get the same treatment, it’s going to be a lot hotter than the high 70s.

As to being shipped from overseas in refrigerated containers - if you’re below the water line you’re going to be OK. It’s the docks that are more problematic. Also, most shipping from Europe slows or stops in the summer.

I don’t disagree with his larger point though.

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I mentioned a couple months ago that an obviously heat damaged bottle of 17 Rousseau CSJ was phenomenal, similar to other non-heat damaged bottles. Not sure how it’d be for the long haul, though.

Unless the shop is in the business of selling very fine wine, he’s right and in no world does it make sense to not ship during summer. Especially a shop in Florida where it’s “summer” for 9 months of the year. Better to eat the cost of a heat-damaged bottle here and there than invest in a massive storage operation.

Is this b21? References a Bern’s group so maybe a Tampa retailer.

They seem to have zero reservation shipping in summer.

Sorry, it’s insane. I live here. Summer high-90s quickly becomes 110+ in a car or truck.

Sure, wine is sturdy but why the heck would a consumer, except for uninformed ones falling prey to retailers like this, take the risk.

Now that said, fortified wines like Caymus are prolly ok. :slight_smile:

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I think all of that is fairly pragmatic advice, but its also coming from a vendor, who is unlikely to really cater to the obsessive / hyper nature of this board. His (normal) clientele spend more on their mortgage than on their monthly wine purchasing; on WB that’s not such a given. Also, how many of that retailers customers have the crazy storage set ups that so many oenophiles here do?

Most of the time, wine isn’t any cheaper when purchased during a crummy time to ship. Perhaps there can be some availability of oddballs during the summer, when others have turned off their shipping/wine prowling…but again unless there was a huge advantage to taking on the risk of shipping cooked wine I don’t see the rationale for doing this.

His advice is reasonable for people who do not lay down bottles for decades. I don’t think it applies to this community.

B-21 sells GC Burg because I’ve bought from them (great price too on a case of Bouchard Beze)

[rofl.gif]

Think about most of the legit wineries and retailers you purchase from - they’re not willing to risk the quality of their product. Heck, even wine dot com is displaying a heat warning and offering to store until it’s cooler right now.

I think his note makes a lot of sense and I like that he gives the option to hold the wine if you prefer. Wine is incredibly stable. If you want to warm a glass from the refrigerator, put it in the microwave for 13 seconds (4 ounces) or 15 seconds (6 ounces) to get it to ideal drinking temperature. That said, it’s all good until you actually receive a stewed shipment of good wine and then it sucks (it does happen). I suppose most of the less expensive wines ($30 and less) are going to be consumed very soon and purchased to drink. The good stuff for me is usually to be cellared for a while and I can wait until the fall so that I take no chances.

Just because retailers offer HTS doesn’t mean they are truly set up to deliver on that promise. I’ve had too many situations where the wrong bottles show up on my doorstep than what I ordered possibly months/years earlier.

One way to determine if a retailer is serious about holding til shipping (HTS) aspect is if they impose some realistic rules on that offering - min order sizes, max (free) hold times etc.

Actual 98 F here yesterday(Miami) [swoon.gif]

He’s not fully wrong, but I have received clearly cooked wine and had perishables get delayed and cooked due to fed ex or weather issues and get ruined. Why take the chance in most cases?

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I agree that wine is sturdier than people often think. But what is he shipping? Daou? Caymus? The Prisoner?

How could you tell if those wines were damaged?

Might improve the wine! [cheers.gif]

I think this is Craft & Curd. I don’t know why that would be confidential. I bought from them a couple months ago and shipping was fast with no issues.

Minneapolis has been that hot way too many days this summer!

Last Thursday I received an unexpected shipment from Zachys, just 3 bottles of Sherry so I think they can resist heat much better that any other wine, but what surprised me is that Zachys is usually good at holding shipments during the summer, even in late October they made me sign a waiver for a shipment that I requested because they considered that the weather conditions were less that ideal to ship wine from NY to Miami.