Florida Retailer’s opinion on Summer Shipping

Makes me think of those time-lapsed videos of McDonald’s burgers not rotting.

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It’s still the dark ages in some parts of FL [wink.gif]


And I will not be ordering from Craft & Curd

You have no idea……

The wine selections are medieval.

Obviously a self interested point of view or held have no internet sales 9 months out of the year. Regional politics aside , this is where half the population also refuses to get vaccinated for Covid. Far be it for me to defend Burgheads but I’ve met more pompous drinkers of expensive Napa cab.

That said, I agree with the premise that most wine is more resilient than frequently credited but I’ve had a box’s shipped in ‘off’ seasons where the corks were pushed out from freezing or stained from leaking in heat and then had to deal with replacement. Why risk it , especially when it might be decades before you discover the damage and have no recourse.

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Yeah, didn’t want to make me order from here.

I notice very significant differences in the quality of aged wines I buy at auction, and I’m thinking the ones that are shot/over the hill were owned and stored by somebody like this.

I mean, if you really feel like this, then why pay for temperature control of your cellar at all?

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Most physical wine shops I’ve been to have wine at room temperature, probably 70, including K&L, Flatiron, Wally’s, Wine House, etc. Maybe there’s a cool room for very expensive bottles, but that’s it.

There’s $200 bottles galore on those shelves.

I don’t worry about 70. I can count how many wineries I’ve visited that are at 70 or above

But those businesses are not trying to ‘gaslight’ you into thinking shipping a warm bottle is a good thing.

That’s not what I got from their post.

“ We keep all of our wine stored temperature controlled (but not at cellar temp sub-65 degrees). It is my personal opinion that keeping the wine at say 59 degrees and then shipping it halfway around the country with all the temperature fluctuations the wine would be worse off then if it was kept at 70 degrees initially for example”

I don’t think Wallys or K&L would ever overtly make this assertion.

Yes, big difference between 70 and 90+ in a hot truck.

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Yeah, the retailer might believe that, but it’s total nonsense.

I love the "Summer "weather hold in South Florida it helps ease the Credit Card usage lol. The problem is the spending October-March…

I had a related, interesting experience with Gary’s last week. I ordered a case of Raffault. I did not click a shipping option or pay for shipping, instead it was to be held for fall shipping. I get an email the next day saying it’s been shipped. For free. Now mind you, Florida is f*cking blazing hot right now, mid-90s and up every day. I immediately emailed and called to stop the shipment, and to their credit, they caught it on the shipping docks. I guess both of us are lucky that I jumped on the email in time, which hit during the work day. I would not have accepted delivery of this case. I am shocked a retailer would ship to FL by regular ground during the height of summer. And my call to them seemed like this was normal course for them.

Could you tell me which store you were dealing with?

Is that better?

Whether or not they assert it, that’s the truth, the vast majority of the wine in the store is at room temperature. I assume K&L’s warehouse in San Carlos is temperature controlled but I’ve never been there.

If you look at K&L’s website and see, for example, a 13 produttori in stock at Hollywood, that wine may have been sitting on the shelf at 70 since 2016. That isn’t to say it won’t be good, it’ll probably be fine.

The only store I’ve been to where the majority of their inventory was temperature controlled is hi time.

Do you really think Craft and Curd’s $30 2019 Napa cabs need to be stored at 55?

Gary’s in Nj.

And for the record, I have always had great experiences with this retailer.

I buy from them all the time. Never any problem. Just curious which store. He has a store in Napa and 4 stores in NJ. Do you know which store in NJ you deal with?

God, this is such a complicated subject. He has some points worth taking in, but not as a panacea.

I generally don’t promote shipping in the hot months, but I don’t always email every single customer that puts an order with an back and fro, either. Sometimes you make a judgment - is shipping going local and temps will be in the 90’s and they haven’t specifically asked to hold it? Then that might be OK for a short delivery that will only take a day or two. Colorado and having to creep up the cooler Rockies? Prob OK. East Coast is often quite easy to find windows for, too. But if it’s going to FL, TX or NV in the summer? No, then I email and suggest to hold off.

But we also mustn’t forget that most customers are not nerdy wine collectors. They might simply have ordered your wine to go with their planned dinner on Sat with friends. What right do I have to deny them timely arrival in that case when 99% of wines could take it?

I’ve also kept many bottles of my own wine for consumption in my hot storage, to kind of stress test it. Some have even started pushing out their corks. Once brought back and chilled down again, I couldn’t tell the difference.

I think somehow in the middle is where we ought to meet. The wine nerds should perhaps be a little less anal about shipping when it’s hot and the ones who don’t care about it, should perhaps be a bit more so!

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