I actually like the narratives. Rather, I get a kick out of seeing how much BS he can pile on top of BS, all for a $14.71 wine I’ve never heard of that is probably very average. And the flowery words, metaphors, colorful language about stuff that has nothing to do with the wine. I think it’s a blast.
It’s their customer service that made me unsubscribe and never want to do business with them again. Their wines typically arrive in America significantly after they say they will. Then trying to get your wine from them is a major hassle. They had a wine of mine ready to ship last fall but said they were busy shipping other orders and never got a chance to ship mine. For the whole fall shipping season??!! I told them to ship it this spring and it took them several weeks to do so. I buy too much wine already, I don’t need their shenanigans.
A couple of the recent Mystery wines for reference.
Mystery 2 Cabernet $19.99 Conviction South Africa
Mystery WA bordoux Blend $16.98 Waters Interlude
Mystery WA Race Car $39.98 Dunham Lewis Vineyard Merlot
I’ve got a more Zen attitude towards these guys. If I don’t want to read the email, well then I just scroll down to the bolded line(s) which contain the wine and price. Simple.
I don’t care when the wine arrives. I have plenty to drink in the meantime. Actually, when I asked if they would hold on to a couple cases that were ready for shipping, they happily did so until the end of the SoCal window.
I’ve found some of the wines to be totally average, while others were excellent. None were total duds for the price.
I’m pretty much with Adam on this. Have had some really great QPRs from Garagiste of late. Yes, some stinkers here and there, but that is part of the exploration. If you don’t want to read or buy, just get off the list or don’t open them…
Good advice which I have applied. Drinking a good and cheap Garagiste Vac now that needs another couple of years. But I would rather be drinking an OR Pinot which I can buy locally & no wait. We are very fortunate here. Others may be less so and need to buy online. I have noticed other online stores engage in similar verbosity, but at least deliver on time and sell fewer stinkers.
I dropped the emails. I’ve been a customer for a long time but a recent exchange with them over a CS issue-not even worthy of discussion-finally made me pull the plug. Just not the retailer it once was. Good night and good luck.
And I still buy. They aren’t my go-to retailer, but I’ve had good luck with carefully selected mystery wines, mystery cases, and open-view offers that appealed to me. The other 98% I just delete. Their storage is impeccable, which they do for free, and they give you the option once the wines are in to specify the precise timing of shipping. I feel like I’m coming out ahead, and that’s really the long and short of it.
For most of the sub-$15 wines I’ve bought, I’ve been extremely happy. Above $40-50 and it can get dicey for me, some successes and some utter failures. That said getting 02 Dom P at $113 was pretty rad.
I buy just the occasional foodstuff and less than I used to–the mustards aren’t that great and the value there is lacking, but the Moroccan olive oil is very good. The wines and their hype turn me off and I find myself deleting even before I finish reading about “better than La Tache and only $12 . . .”
The residents of my apartment complex have been the “lucky” recipients of a fair amount of free wine lately as I “gift” many of my early purchases from Garagiste that were based more on JR’s prose than common sense.
As many others have said, you can find good deals on known wines and those I consider and sometimes purchase. All the others, delete.
Thoughts on the current offer: 1989 Bel-Air Lagrave?
Great price. CT reports look decent, consistently in the high 80’s/low 90’s (except Arturo’s multiple low '70’s). None from tasters I know.
Update on the CdR Elegie bottles… just had my last one last night and I have to say it was pretty solid. Looking back at past comments, apparently the wine was remarkably inconsistent. So either this was one of the good ones, or it’s finally come together. My prior one was not so good.
Popped n’ poured, served with grilled flank steak. Solid as an aperitif, but even better with the meat to cut the tannins. Earthy without being overly French about it. Dark fruits, some tobacco, and a hint of lavender. Solid.
I think the issue here was that this was sold as Cote-Rotie.
Here are some excerpts from the offer:
‘This wine is top-tier Cote Rotie.
[…]
This wine was made by Louis Barruol from his best parcels in Cote Rotie.
The parcels include lieux-dits such as Rozier, Cote-Rozier, Champin, Cote Bodin (next to La Landonne) - all situated in the northern part of Cote Rotie with the most schist soil.’
It was $27 so buyer beware although it was 4 years ago and CR prices were not quite as crazy as they are now, but obviously it was still far fetched. However to me $27 is quite a lot for a Cotes du Rhone, or even a low end Crozes. Lots of nice wines out there for $27 even today let alone 4 years ago.
I dare say Rimmerman really came through today with the Barolo offer. Recommend buying some if you’re in to that kind of thing. First time I’ve bought in well over a year.
Boy todays offer sure is a stretch! Garage sale with bin ends, torn labels - in other words wine he could not sell first time around. $250 or $1800 case with a lottery bottle in a select few boxes. Gambling with wine anyone?
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