I know it cannot be easy Ian - that was the reason I contacted you - not so much for a refund for me personally but maybe to alert you to place a hold on future shipments to other customers out East. I know it cannot be easy on a small winery to handle these logistics and go up against UPS. Cannot say I have an answer other than if you have the room onsite to hold it before shipping it out but that may create other problems for you. Regardless, I look forward to trying the bottles that did arrive in good shape and for comparison Iāll try the āfrozenā ones too.
Sorry if I am being dense here, but were these frozen wines shipped in styrofoam? The top and bottom description makes me assume they werenāt.
No, pulp shippers.
As a general rule of thumb, wine shipped west to east that travels along Interstate 80 (Omaha NE/Des Moines IA) or 90 (Sioux Falls SD) should wait until around St Patrickās day. (Iām in MN)
Here is the average temps for Des Moines and Sioux Falls. Generally the last week of January is the coldest up here, but a chunk of super cold from the polar region can break off even into April.
And to that point, has anybody had wine frozen/damaged in transit with a styrofoam shipper? I donāt have the history or the numbers that some of you do, but I have had many a case travel Cali to DC with zeroes in transit and the bottles arrive at about the temp of a refrigerator.
And donāt people freeze leftovers in a recorked bottle for later consumption? This part is more of a joke, but I recall reading it somewhere on this forumā¦
I have had popsicles coming out of the top of bottles in a styro shipper. I am in NW Wisconsin. It was years ago and a shipment got stuck locally over a holiday at somewhere near -28.
I expect to have issues with a BD purchase that was amazingly shipped for some reason. As Ron mentioned we are not supposed to be above zero around here until probably Tuesday next week. Sunday -20 or worse at night just as my shipment should arrive locally in the back of a truck.
My last wine shipment from BD is due this weekend, and our (hopefully) last blast of winter in PacNW is occurring now. Should be OK with low outdoor temps in mid teens as long as it doesnāt sit somewhere outside overnight. Fingers crossed.
I had no problems over last couple of weeks, with quick shippers from BD, because weāve been have weather in the 50ās.
I may be wrong, but wouldnāt wines be better protected against low temperature when they are packed in Styrofoam shipper than the pulp/cardboard shipper?
I had no idea that UPS/FedEx would hold shipments due to weather. Is the reference to shipper an agent for the winery and not the carrier. Like VinFillment?
Yes, maybe, no; choose one. People claim amazing protection from styrofoam, but Iāve had bottles that were cold damaged shipping within NJ in styrofoam.
I would bet that the wine is drinking fine right now, your issues would arise in longer-term storage with oxidation. Give it a shot!
If the cork seal is fine, the wine is fine. Yes, there may be some tartrate crystals that precipitate. Some wineries, particularly large wineries, cold stabilize wine before bottling by lowering the temperature to cause some of tartrates to precipitate. Same process, if it damages the wine then cold stabilized wines are equally damaged. The reason large wineries do it is because some consumers are concerned when they see the crystals. But, they arenāt an issue.
Also, if a little bit froze without compromising the seal, the wine is fine.
-Al
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Yes it is my intention to give it a try which is why I did ask the vendor to not start the return yet because if its good, then no harm no foul!
Cold damaged meaning frozen wine, cork popping out, etc?
Yes, this has happened to me a couple of times, including exploding bottles. In styrofoam
Cork popping out 3/8th of an inch. Freak cold snap over a weekend. It didnāt arrive frozen but had tartrates. I havenāt had a chance to check in on it.
How much of an affect do you think the precipitating tartrate has on the wine? We recently received some BD shipments and there was a a ton of precipitate, not just a couple crystals. The corks all looked fine so I donāt think anything froze, but the bottles were pretty cold on arrival. We were wondering if it was worth bothering the winery about, I assume the wine is going to lose some acidity, but donāt know if it would be so noticeable as to cause an issue.
There are people who claim they detect a minor change in perceived acidity after tartrates have fallen out. But, Iāve always considered that partly the power of suggestion and partly an immoderate confidence in their own palate. The effect is generally minor, and smaller than actual cold stabilization would have caused (thatās done by holding the wine near freezing for a couple of weeks). Some wines drop tartrates simply in the refrigerator.
I wouldnāt worry about it, but you might try a bottle and decide whether to contact the winery.
-Al
The climate situation is really scary in much of the country right now. My heart is breaking for several friends who are impacted with at-risk water.
Wine shipping is obviously a thousand rungs below that in level of importance, but Iāve got a big shipment that was supposed to be overnight and got held up at the Louisville UPS dispatch center. Again ā this is nothing compared to what others are suffering from right now ā but Iām pretty nervous whatās going to happen to that wine.
I thought the next-day air would be a safe play, but weāll seeā¦
I just spoke to the shipping company I use for my shipments. They said that on Monday, they sent out about 50 packages next day air via Fed Ex - less than 10% got there the next day (none of these were mine). And they mentioned that they are sending a small package for me today via 3rd Day, and when they entered the info on the Fed Ex website, it would not give them an expected delivery date - first time they had seen that.
As others have said, these issues are minor compared to what so many are going through with weather issues - but please understand that your wine shipment will most likely be affected by these delays if you are east of the Rockies - period. And wineries themselves may not be able to get updated information on your shipments as Fed Ex and UPS are overwhelmed right now. Just a heads up.
I have decided NOT to ship any of my rose futures wines for at least another week - and I may even hold off longer if the weather issues continue. Those on the west coast will most likely receive theirs within the next week or so though . . .
Hang in there, all, and please be patient.
Cheers.