PC does pay off-just got 13 btl’s of 05 Burgundy I ordered 6/07.
They were in great condition.
Question - is there some way to ascertain whether your wine is in for shipping from logging into your account?
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Maureen, there should be an option to see your orders, and under that you can select from either “all,” “open,” or “ready” (or some variation on that theme). If you choose the last option it will then show a list of wines ready to ship.
In my experience, I often have some wine that is ready to ship that I cannot see on the website. I find this out by calling and speaking with James.
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Ok. So the bottle shows no visible signs of damage.
Where has it been all this time?
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Matt, who knows? Do you know how and where your stores and distributors and producers store your wine across it entire life span?
I’ve opened btls I bought from PC ten years ago and see no signs of premature aging or heart damage in 99+% of the btls.
The great thing about capitalism is if you don’t like their approach or model, don’t buy from them. It works for some and not for others.
Now if you have some inside information, please share. Always interested to learn more!
I have no insider information. I don’t buy from them. I have no dog in this fight. Given I do this for a living, I am just curious how one sources hard to find / highly rated etc. wines (at in some cases VERY aggressive prices) several years after release and where it has been sitting that nobody else in the supply chain was able to find it and snap it up at such a great deal.
FWIW - for the most part, yes, we can accurately track how our distributors store / ship / and source wine. We know if it’s rail, if it’s reefer, if it’s truck, if the truck is refrigerated etc etc. It’s not that difficult. A simple example, there are many distributors in each state that simply choose not to use refrigerated trucks (for whatever reason). You order expensive wine from them in the summer months at your own peril. Others may have temp controlled trucks but don’t pay the extra freight to have the wine sent from port to their warehouse on temp controlled setting. Lots of places it can go wrong and if we are in the procurement business it is our job to make sure we are getting what we pay for…
I love all the ITB folks stomping on those sour grapes.
Exactamundo…I guess if you can’t beat them you can always use thinly veiled criticisms
Love PC, have used them for years with absolutely no problem (unless you call great wine, in pristine condition at unbeatable prices a problem)
With that being said, I do monitor my purchasing to keep my exposure at a level I am ok with. I also make sure that the price (perceived deal) warrants the risk and wait. I do realize that things can change quickly for these types of retail shops, and just because they’ve been in business for decades doesn’t mean they are immune to future problems. That is a very real concern buying pre-arrival from any shop.
I have no problem with them. Just asked a question. Not sure anyone has an answer.
Since then I’ve gotten married, bought a house and had 2 kids.
Took them that long to deliver 13 bottles of wine?
How do you know they are sourcing several years after release? Maybe they source at release and store in Europe. I don’t know, you don’t know, so all we can do is conjecture.
Also, how do you know that they do not manage their supply chain just as you do? Maybe they are extremely careful and slow in moving product. Again, nobody knows except PC.
Now do I wish they were more transparent? Sure, but I assume they are not to protect their business model.
If they ever do fail someday, I never let them become such a large counter party that I’m not comfortable with the risk.
And hey, Matt, if you want to sell me Roulot Perrieres for $250/btl, I’ll take 6. 
I’ve never participated with them, so no real pro or con from me.
I can sympathize with the time angst, but also relate to the savings.
So, I have a question:
Do many people end up not getting the wine they ordered?
Any history of PC eventually telling someone who’s bought something, “Look, bud, this just ain’t gonna happen?”
If that does happen, how often?
If it doesn’t, that seems like strong reassurance.
Look - I agree with you. Maybe they do all those things. I am just asking - does anyone actually know?
Look at the guy that ordered 13 bottles of 2005 Burgundy in 2007. It took them seven years to fill the order. Some kid who was a freshman in high school is almost done with college.
I get that maybe they were not going to drink it anyway. So let Premier Cru store it in Europe I guess? Is there any other wine operation in the United States that can get by taking seven years to fill an order? Hell - we get calls from customers when a wine is 5 days late.
So all I was wondering is if there is anyone knows where all this wine has been or where they get it from?
Why this thread?
Why??
WHY???
…
That said, it’s too bad PC isn’t the exclusive distributor of Maison Ilan.
Slow news day??? 
Thanks, Michael, that worked.
Yes that works, some of the time. But as Pat mentioned above, sometimes there are items ready to ship that do not show up online. They don’t keep that section of the website up-to-date. If you call you’ll get an up-to-date answer.
I’ve seen a handful of posts over the years where this has happened. Very uncommon compared to those who report they eventually come through. In most cases it appears that PC has offered a reasonable alternative. I think the risk of not getting the wine is really low, but if you don’t want to wait, don’t even consider PC.
I don’t have a clue where the wine is during the extra years I’m waiting for it, but in my experience, the risk of a bad or cooked bottle is no higher than from any other source. It’s lower than a number of them.
And the risk of being out money and wine if they go under? Well, they delivered all of my scarce and highly appreciated 2005 Bordeaux futures well after the financial crisis peaked, so I figure if they survived that stress test, they’re a pretty good bet. That experience did convince me, however, to limit my exposure at any one time. An even better bet when it’s hedged.
I had the exact same experience and reaction to the experience. I buy a lot less these days from PC than I would if the wait were shorter. Imagine the windfall if PC decided to take a haircut and deliver most of their outstanding orders in short fashion?-- a double bonus of reduced exposure and increased confidence that they are good for the wine.
For some of my 2005 Bordeaux futures, I did take an “in-kind” exchange as many of the 375ml bottles were not materializing (after 3 or 4 years) and I was impatient. So, PC offered two 750ml bottles of the same wine for every three bottles 375ml I had ordered that they couldn’t deliver (they may have delivered these eventually, but I wasn’t interested in waiting any longer). Seemed like fair compensation for my wait, more than fair actually.