Surdyks in Minneapolis is actually pretty good. They have some really good prices on their sales and ship to some states. Buy on their sales.
I cannot speak to the past except to reiterate that I have never had trouble myself, but for the present I have learned to place orders a week in advance of pickup on the older/rarities selections because those are housed off-site in a temperature controlled warehouse. I have also seen photos of the āvaultā where the really high dollar stuff is kept. All appears to be in order. The few times I ordered 10+ years ago, I did not have any direct insight into storage.
In the past 2 years I have brought home about 5 cases of wines ranging from 2005 to 2009 from DVW, and all the bottles have been absolutely pristine.
The current portfolio is quite nice, BTW. On the Auction side, they seem to be buying very little for reselling at retail- but they are still a very reliable resource for placing and executing your own bids at the Auctions.
Anyone know whats up with Chambers St. Laws in NY change? Tried to order some Baudry from them a few weeks ago and no out of state shipping. Bought cases from them previously shipped to California.
Thanks Tom! Thatās very helpful.
Another vote for Vinapolis,I also use Woodland Hills Wine, solid prices and selection.
Full disclosure, Iāve been a Dee Vine customer for 15 years now, so I obviously am biased in their favor. And they only ship to CA and NV. The old warehouse was unrefrigerated, but also literally on top of the bay, which is cool for swimming year-round. I havenāt ever had a cooked tasting wine and very few leakers considering the cheap corks that were used by most German wineries until the last few years. They do have a bazillion old wines from the Balz collection. Iāve been lucky enough to taste a couple of those, including a 1973 Koenigschaffhauser Steingrueble Spaetburgunder Weissherbst Trockenbeerenauslese that was ethereal. I donāt know where the storage is currently.
I tried to order online and had the same problem a few months ago. When I called they said it was a software issue. So Iād give them a ring.
https://www.bassins.com/wine_list.php?country=Germany
I think they ship (they are local for me). Talk to Phil Bernstein there who is an expert on German wines.
I too was a DVW customer way back (probably starting in 2001-2002) and have never had any storage issues with wines from them. I was also in the store/storage space on the pier and it was quite cool and this was late sept when it was much warmer in SF generally.
And sometimes Phil at. Assins gets his hands on some slightly older stuff. Great for new/recent releases.
Vinopolis is a great shout. I just ordered a mix case of F.X. Pichler that I was pleasantly surprised they had such a great variety of at a very fair prices.
Didnāt realize the store changed its name. I can think of a lot of other stores I would call "Ass"ins before them.