Anybody able to give a report on either or both of the above retailers, good, bad or indifferent? In the same league as Farr Vintners and Berry Brothers & Rudd? Thanks.
Have experience with both, but only once with Falcon Vintners. Fine + Rare i have bought from multiple times and i have some cases stored with them. I have great experience with Fine + Rare, their selection is great and the customer service is friendly. It is never bargains that they offer, they are sort of middle of the road pricewise.
I use them to some of my wine while i clear up space around the house, their shipping to continental europe is expensive so i plan to accumulate 30 cases or more before i arrange shipping as their shipping prices on smaller lots are prohibitive in mu opinion.
I should mention that i have not yet taken delivery of any of my wine from their storage facility, so keep that in mind (although my wine IS in their warehouse and title remains with me).
F&R is a big operation. Bought from them many, many times without a problem. You should note that their online prices are certainly not firm prices and they will check with their own supplier before confirming ie a super cheap deal is probably a mistake that they won’t follow through on. Falcon is a much smaller operation but I’ve always had a positive experience with them.
I have tried that once with F+R, that they didnt follow through on a webprice, because of an error from their supplier. Other than that, all prices have been confirmed as listed. But as Dan says, if you find an offer on their platform that seems too good to be true, it probably is. No bargains on F+R, but decent pricepoints and very good selection. I have compared prices on Falcon and F+R numerous times, and often i found that F+R was equal or better in price, just a few times it was the other way around
Have bought from F+R many times. Only positive experiences so far
This.
Bought 4 -74 Monfortinininini,and they were all superb!
Good service,efficient shipping.
I must be one of the rare one that had bad experience with Fine & Rare Wines. They quoted me a wine 30% above Far Vintners price, so I never call them again.
Oh, the horror!
Same as has been said for FRW.CO.UK.
For Falconer, I haven’t bought from them in years, but back in the '04-'07 period I bought some wine, good prices, no delivery probs, all was good. Some Scavino ‘Annunziata’, both Dal Forno and Quintarelli, some Mugnier ('03 Moose, Amoureuses, Bonnes Mares), and some Voerzio ('01 Rocche dell’Annunziata). No idea why I stopped buying, probably just tried to concentrate my ‘buying power’ in fewer places to get more bang for the buck…
Hmmm. Just noticed the ‘Falcon’ vs ‘Falconer’ thing. Wonder if I bought from ‘Falcon’ or if Falconer is now long gone?
What everyone else said regarding Fine & Rare - they’re mostly brokers, so when you flag-up a wine you’re interested in there’s then a delay while they check with supplier and then if you choose to buy a delay of some weeks until the wine is shipped to them. So long as you’re happy with the model and don’t want the wine yesterday, they’re good.
I buy lots from Falcon Vintners - friendly and reliable. Strong on Italian, which is what I buy from them. Never had any problems.
Thanks to all for the input. I am also doing some old Italian business with Falcon, and thinking to backfill some Bordeaux and other items with Fine & Rare. I am buying quality and relative rarity rather than quantity, so availability at a rational price will do…