@MChang and @Jeff_D Thanks so much for the votes of confidence! Much appreciated.
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This is the kind of storefront I like to see. Looks like absolute crap so they can bring you the best prices. All my favorite shops look like this.
I joke about thisā¦if I were to run a LWS, Iād have a sign for the lottery in the window.
Iāve had good luck with them, too.
I just ordered for the first time. Whole process was flawless. Only question is storage ā do they keep wines properly stored or are they on shelf exposed to light/heat
my guess is most of their wine must be in a warehouse; when you order things sometimes it will say something about āwine must be transferred prior to shippingā but I donāt know for sure.
Once nice thing I noticed, when I ordered a 3 pack of Palmer 2019 they sent me the OWC for no additional cost.
I havenāt seen the warehouse, but know they have one, as I recently saw an ad for an open position there.
The vast majority of their wines are in a warehouse
Each listing on the site will specify whether bottles are in store at the shop (āThere are ___ bottles available for Rapid Shipment or in store pickupā) vs. offsite at the warehouse (āThis item is available for online ordering only.ā)
random but are these guys associated with wine cellarage in any way?
i keep coming across wines that are pre-arrival at both shops on wine-searcher with almost the exact same price.
I donāt know if they still do it, but they used to list a wines from the distributors books, without having the wines in stock, and then fill the order from the distributor when they get it. Hence the wide selection. It could be Wine Cellerage does the same thing. It drives the distributors crazy, but is apparently legal. And Iāve never had SW fail to fill an order, so apparently it works.
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Benchmark does it too.
Have ever had them hold wine until better shipping weather? Weāre quickly running out of time here in NC and I may need to hold shipment until mid-October or later.
Iāll add to the chorus of satisfied customers. I use them for Bordeaux and the wines show up in good condition and a timely manner. I really like their automated system, one of the best Iāve come across. I havenāt needed customer service yet because everything just seems to work (I hope I didnāt jinx an incoming order).
Theyāve held for me before
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Great, thanks. Long time period (6-8 months) with no delivery issues?
I think their official policy is to hold for 3 months, but theyāve agreed to adjust by an extra month (or two) in the past for me when the weather was finicky.
Thanks, thatās helpful to know.
I had previously used Saratoga and had a fairly good experience. Unfortunately I will probably never use them again as they decided to ship one of my orders in May despite Phoenix hitting 90s during the week they chose. I had called to request extended hold until the weather cools in the fall, but they proceeded to tell me they will be unable to hold my order - even if I wanted to pay for the storage. Now I am forced to pay $60 in expedited shipping and $17 in ice packs to get my 3 bottle $298 order. This ultimately diminished any value I had perceived from their lower WS pricing and caused headaches and grief.
I wouldnāt recommend them if you may need holds of more than 30 calendar days on their preorders.
Hold Til Ship (HTS) is not an easy thing for merchants to handle, especially for extended times. I would not make that the sole yardstick to measure a vendor by. And given your location you may have this issue with everyone, since Phoenix will generally always have a smaller shipping aperture than other destinations.
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Very unfortunate to hear. Theyāre under new ownership as of late last year (though the husband worked at the store forever) and I wonder if theyāre cracking down on some of their less profitable endeavors like holding wine.
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I get that, but Iāve purchased well over 3000 bottles from various retailers and rarely had any issues regarding hold til ship. In fact, if a retailer canāt hold til ship, they would generally let me know earlier rather than dropping it on me within a week of shipping so I can arrange plans and change expectations.
Just to name some retailers that come to mind that can hold to ship for other Arizonians: Vint Marketplace (similar model and price to Saratoga), Crush, Woodhill Wine Company, JJ Buckley, K&L, Vinopolis, Grand Vin Wine Merchants, Flat Iron, Berkeley Imports (ships with temp controlled courier), Vins Rare, Collectible Fine Wines, Thatcherās, and many more.