The name of the winery will not appear in this thread as they did not ship the wine and the wine was not in their control. The winery is not at fault and they have offered to step up and replace the 3 cases if the transport company/distributer fails to make things right.
I am calling the transport company today and will see what the story is regarding this fiasco.
How do you know the winery didn’t tell them to ship? They are the client
Rick - I can only imagine 2 scenarios, here, to be honest, and this is based on my experience.
The winery gave orders to CWT to ship to Mike. Provided name, address, who to bill shipment to, etc. Then they either specified “hold for Nov. 15 shipment” (e.g.), or they omitted a ship date altogether.
If the winery specified a future ship date, and the warehouse missed that or ignored it, the winery will have documentation that the warehouse shipped in error.
If the winery omitted a ship date, then the normal course of events would be for the warehouse to ship. **Again, I am saying this from my experience only.**They have huge trucks in and out of these warehouses all day, every day, to pick up consolidated shipments. Then the warehouses can have their own trucking routes as well, for instance running from Napa to SF on certain days, virtually every week of the year, or to SoCal on certain days, etc.
So both the winery and CWT should have documentation in some written form to prove who elected to ship on the date they shipped.
I would doubt that a shipper would elect not to ship if they had orders to ship. They might contact the winery to say they don’t recommend it due to heat or whatever, but again, the normal course of business would be to have documentation for any change to the original order.
Despite the allure of the product we all know and love, the wine business is just like any other business, honestly.
It was Kimberly and I who ordered the wine shipped. The problem here was when we ordered the shipping. It was raining here and the temps were in the low 70’s throughout Ca. We personally shipped a bunch of orders, GSO, that made it just fine. When we ordered CWT to ship it turned out they don’t use GSO and they delayed shipping for a week or so, then just sent it out- on a wed. ![[swearing.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/8/8a0d3f3461d40641d294442fc2be78039bf94d19.gif "[swearing.gif]"){kind=small}
-in record high heat, with no confirmation or instruction from us at all. This company has been a storage facility for us, and we’ve had no real experience with them shipping wine for us.
We have offered to ship back the wine and replace the entire order to Mike, John, and anyone else who recieved the wine during this last heat spike. Kimberly and I are obviously sick over this and deeply regret not being more on top of the shipping company. I sincerely apologize for the hassle and upset feelings this has caused. We care deeply about our product and the service we provide to the people who support our winery.
Hardly your fault. And a class act response John. Well done.
John,
((
That sucks. Major points for owning up to it. And this is precisely what I was trying to get at last night. The shipping company has to have a clue and these guys obviously don’t. If you’re asked to ship and you delay a week, then ship on a Wednesday in record heat you have zero business delivering wine for money.
Merrill - thanks for the detailed reply! Much appreciated.
John - sorry for the snafu - no one wins in this situation.
I have found that my best friend is a confirming fax from the warehouse saying a shipment has been picked up, or a shipper’s “end of day” email saying which orders have shipped and giving tracking numbers. It’s the absence of those notifications (or of specific customer orders
on the list) that gets you moving the next morning to the phone to look further into the status. It’s hard when you are a small outfit who is working the vineyard, pouring at tastings, doing marketing/sales, etc. to put that at the top of the checklist, but it does pay off.
A very kind response on your part.
HOWEVER, I still hold the wine shipping company responsible. Someone with a brain owns that company. They know what the temperature is outside. Their name is California WINE Transport. Anyone that is in a business that specializes in such a niche industry could see what a mistake it would be to ship under those conditions. Wouldn’t the logical thing to do would be to pick up the phone and call John and simply ask, “Are you SURE you want to ship under these conditions?” Simple.
Chris
John shouldn’t have to shoulder the financial burden; I’m waiting to see what the wine shipping company is going to do.
alan
Called them 2 hours ago and they said they would see what happened and call back.
Still waiting for the call back. ![[popcorn.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/1/1ca9f29573458cca2424a66a50d6c1261081dd3e.gif "[popcorn.gif]"){kind=small}
Tasted the wine after chilling down the bottle that registered 92.5 degrees yesterday to a cellar temp of 60 degrees. Horrible ![[barf.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/8/8943c0ebb2703c20afa757f7ca84a099bb9de70d.gif "barf")
Dude, you are a class act. Class breeds customer loyalty.
I did not take up your CC offer on the '06 (which was awesome) because the way I read your email was that delivery was required now and I’m in Florida. Translate: HOT.
I will, however, be buying your '07 once it is available. I buy very little Cali wine, as you know, for a variety of reasons, including shipment to FL, but your winery makes great juice, at a great price and with class. You stepping up only confirms in my mind why small business should be supported when they produce good stuff and act honorably.
Can any local lawyer step up here for a “friendly” letter for Mike, if necessary. I’m more than happy to do it, but I’m just a country lawyer down in Orlando, FL. I have no clout in your neck of the woods. Would be nice if neither Mike nor John carry this cost burden.
Cheers.
Was this one of the wines that showed overt seepage/spillage? Soaked cork and sticky capsule?
John and Kimberly,
Totally out of your control (esp. during harvest!) and nobody saw this major heat wave coming that far in advance. Mother Nature happens, nobody can control that. Hopefully the shipping company will work it out and everyone will be ok and survive.
No one can say if there’s going to be another heat spike in October…or November…
Shit just happens. Just work it out and don’t blame the time of year, because that really doesn’t matter anymore as we are seeing first hand.
No signs of seepage or pushed out cork on this one. Just a bottle that was quite warm to the touch and an internal temperature of 92.5 degrees. Will try another taste tonight and see if the outcome is the same.
I never had anything from Cabot but I will now.
Don’t be. It’s wine. Save the angst for things that really matter.
My shipment shows no outward signs of damage - no pushed up corks, no seepage.
I’m letting it sit, and in a few days, may crack a bottle. With this weather, I haven’t really
been in a Syrah mood, anyway.
If it’s no good, we’ll drink something else.
Sleep tight, my friends.
+1 - My case arrived in perfect condition.
John & Kimberly are truely artisans and clearly care a great deal about this craft that they excel in. Believe me, they aren’t getting rich doing this and put in endless hours to produce, market and sell the best product they possibly can. We love you guys!
GSO or UPS? Mine was UPS
What date did your wine arrive? Mine sat in Sylmar all weekend and in the UPS truck all day Monday, delivered at 6:PM.
Still waiting to hear back from CWT from my call yesterday.
Mike - I believe my case was delivered by a fullfillment company much in the same way wholesale wine is delivered. It was delivered last Wed in the am. The wine is in perfect condition.
Flip side: I just got off the phone with a customer who INSISTS that I ship a package today UPS ground to the midwest…