My experience was excellent the one time I’ve used them
I’ve sold over 1,500 bottles of wine from my cellar to Benchmark over the past two/three years and they are very, very, very picky. Which is why I’ve purchased from them, too. They pick up in a refrigerated truck from my offsite, which isn’t a locker place but a facility managed by The Best Cellar/Carte du Vin, with whom they have a history. Each bottle is graded when it reaches their warehouse. If a bottle is less than correct for any reason, (ullage, label/capsule condition, leak, etc) they photograph it and send a picture, along with an adjusted price. And they pay by wire transfer, on the date negotiated. Benchmark is a professional reseller, in every regard.
M,
Interesting to hear from the other side. Thanks.
I’ve bought from them on and off for years now and while I’ve had an occasionally flawed older bottle my hit rate is as good or better than other sources I use (e.g., winebid). A satisfied customer.
I’m not sure either, but here are my numbers for consumption Jan 2012-now:
Benchmark - 9.4% of consumed bottles flawed
All Other Sources - 2.5%
However, this may be because the bottles I buy from Benchmark are older than other sources, from which I purchase newly released wine. Wine Spectator has been tracking the % of corked bottles (in their blind tastings) and is has declined by more than half in the last decade, coinciding with an industry push to improve cork quality. So it may have nothing to do with Benchmark itself, but simply because they are the only store from which I purchase older wines.
Average age of Benchmark’s flawed bottles - 9.2 yrs post vintage
Average age of all bottles purchased from other sources (good or flawed) - ~5.5 yrs
So I don’t want to slander them for not doing due diligence, as Mark described. That said, they still purchase and resell bottles with a very high known failure rate (early 2000’s failed alternative cork closures – think Behrens pre-2004, Alcina, etc) without disclosing this fact.
So as others have mentioned, do your homework on the wines you have an interest in, and know that buying from them does carry some risk. That said, I do still buy from them.
I’ve had them credit me for a couple bad bottles in the past but they wanted the wine back first. wish I knew that before I poured out a corked mag of '86 Rubicon Estate. It was a slow process for a cooked T-Vine PS but a corked Parker Off the Charts Port was replaced immediately since it was the owners brand.
2.8% of my purchases were flawed. About average for the industry wouldn’t you think?
Edit: Mike Sai was there at the time
My last experience with Benchmark. I would have thought the following bottle would had been listed with its issues. Pushed capsule and seepage. Both are very obvious and should have been noticed in the inspection process. Neither issue was disclosed and it took me a few phone calls over a few days with multiple people to finally reach a a satisfactory agreement. I don’t doubt there are many happy customers out there but for me, its all about the customer service when something goes wrong that really showcases how much repeat business they will generate from me. Maybe my experiences (and this just isn’t the only one) are just the anomaly. In my book, one bad experience is usually forgivable, but when its more than one, the little red flags start to flash in the back of my head proceed with caution. I get no business is going to have 100% customer satisfaction and I’m ok with being in the unsatisfied percentage but I think its fair to let people know to be a little cautious when making a purchase. There are certainly other vendors out there that I don’t hesitate or think twice when making a purchase, as I know if I have an issue, those vendors are all over making it right.
With that said, I wish everybody the best with their purchases at Benchmark and happy ![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers"){kind=small}
I’ve actually been exceedingly pleased with both their provenance on older bottles–almost everything I’ve bought from them has shown well–and their customer service. Their pricing is usually competitive–say, among the cheapest 3-4 US retailers on Wine-Searcher Pro–but only rarely exceptional.
Ditto (except for where I store my wine). I’ve sold through them on two occasions and purchase from them frequently and with confidence.
Hey All – I’m not sure that most people are aware but after a short foray into the winery side of the business, I rejoined Benchmark at a new position in mid-January.
Thank you for all the great feedback – I’m going to forward this thread to our customer service and acquisitions teams. If you have any specific concerns or questions, always feel free to PM me here or email me at msai [at] benchmarkwine.com and I’ll make sure that any issues are quickly addressed by the correct person. If asked, I might even be able to give a fellow WB’er a heads-up on when the next sale is coming… ![[wink.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/04707e6a7bbb03e0153e349d8a9270d30e1e9525.gif "wink"){kind=small}
Thanks again for all the kudos – I’m just the guy in the back room working on special projects, but I’ll make sure this is seen by the people that work hard keep our customers happy.
Mike Sai can correct me if I am wrong but they do replace wine that has faults due to improper storage. Below is a recent response I received from them regarding a corked Vincent Paris Cornas:
“Unfortunately our provenance guarantee applies towards wine that have become damaged due to improper storage.” … “Cork taint or TCA is something that occurs during the manufacturing process, and is a default on the part of the winery. We apologize for this but we are unable to replaced or refunded your bottle of wine.”
Raj
I don’t buy as much from them as I used to, but my wine purchases are way down across all retailers I’ve dealt with. I’ve never gotten an out-of-condition bottle from them, nor from their parent company, Brentwood.
I do agree with some others that their prices aren’t as compelling as they used to be, and they seem to have moved more into the cherries end of the market the last few years. And they do have a strong bias in favor of red wine at the expense of whites.
Have purchased several cases worth over the years.
Have recently had multiple problems with shipping. Seems to have started when they moved to their new larger space.
Never had a problem with bottles, and liked the bin-sales.
KJF
Their Bin Sale is happening. Some deals to be had.
Correct, they did provide store credit for 1 bottle with a fill level much lower than it should have been for its age (it was flawed and undrinkable as well). No such luck on the other flawed bottles.
Gents - apologies for the late reply, I was traveling yesterday afternoon and evening.
Raj - You are correct, our Provenance Guarantee protects you against bottles that show signs of improper storage or exposure to adverse conditions. This includes cooked bottles or bottles that are oxidized at a young age. As Mark mentioned, we do our homework when purchasing wines - often sending a representative to double check storage conditions and spot-check bottles, especially for large collections. If you do have a problem, all we ask is that you recork the bottle with the remaining wine and then get in contact with our customer service team.
For corked wines or other flaws that are the result of decisions made by the winery, our policy has been in line with other retailers and auction houses who specialize in back vintages. However, I will say that this policy has ‘softened’ in the last few years - I would still recommend that you contact our customer service team if there is a problem.
Frank - you are correct that our inventory tends to skew toward red and more collectible wines. As the company has grown and become more successful, we made the decision to focus primarily on back vintage wines purchased from private collectors - which supplies about 90% of our inventory. So we are at the mercy of what is in the cellars we purchase and red/collectible wines tend to make up the lion’s share of most large collections. We do still purchase new releases from wineries that we have a relationship with and brokers when we find a good deal, however the volume is very small versus the our back vintage business.
Kent - please send me a PM or email if your shipping situation has not been completely satisfied. We definitely did go through some growing pains when we moved to the larger facility and then launched the completely new website / enterprise software. Growing by leaps and bounds is a good thing, but maintaining great customer service at the same time is a tough thing to do.
Mike, thanks for weighing in. I bought some recent Biondi Santi and just wondered about BWG in general. Thanks again. I can’t see any issues with the BS wines.
My experience also, albeit with fewer bottles on the sell side. Mike gave me a personal inspection and report on some bottles of 1948 Taylor that I wanted to buy during his first tour. In fairness, I have to say this: Benchmark is a high-volume operation that is going to have training issues and turnover at the incoming inspection level. My experience was, however, that a few of my sale bottles were rejected despite being in perfect condition or otherwise readily salable with very minor conditions like a couple of small spots on a label. I was offered some adjusted prices, but no pictures. It would have been better that the misjudgments were not made, but from a Benchmark buyer’s perspective, better to ding a perfect bottle than pass a flawed one. I was happy to have the rejected bottles back, and had no trouble selling them elsewhere…
For what it is worth I don’t buy from them any more either. Purchased some Sauternes that were prematurely dark, all the bottles ended up being crap. Next time asked for photos and they provided them…decided not to buy based on dark colors. We’re talking 1989s and 90s, and some 2001s and 2003s. Just too iffy for me.
I figured that if their sauternes were poorly stored, the reds could not be far behind, so I avoided them. I think it is a cellar by cellar basis but it’s clear they are willing to sell some goods that you and I might considered “sub par”.
Fred, I am confident that your problem was the wines themselves, not poor storage. Maybe you can fault inspection, but not storage. Nobody wastes the time, money and effort to ship in reefer trucks and then leave the wines cooking in the CA sun