Wine shipment arriving on 82 degree day - a concern?

[JDonner]

@Kyle Schlachter

@JDonner

I don’t get why wineries take the risk when they could just wait a couple of weeks for cooler temps. To me, I prefer to error on the cooler side than hotter. I am in Nor Cal so I have a longer window than some very northern states but I never ship when High Temps are over 74F and will go down to 30F for lows.

Because temperatures across the country are not the same. Choosing to ship individual customer’s orders when the temperatures at point A, point B and every point in between are ideal is way too much work…

Good…I will make a note to never ship with you. I am lucky to live very close to where the wine is shipped from.
I have all my shipments setup for Dec. 1(or the Monday after Thanksgiving) or 8th. Most of my wine only travels about 50 miles or less and temps are usually between 45-63F which is my ideal.

[CJ_Beazley]

The trouble here is those UPS trucks have a skylight in the roof and it gets boiling in there even on an 80-85* day. JJ Buckley is pulling out of Texas and urging customers to ship this week from Houston, and it’s just too warm.

[Terence_T-Bone_Livingston]

I’ve had plenty of wine shipped from CA to FL this summer, and even when some bottles appeared warm (from being on the truck that day) the wines were fine.

Just pull the foils off and check the corks when they arrive.

[Eric_Keating]

In Littorai’s defense, the Wednesday-Thursday forecast is about 5 degrees higher today than it was showing last week. A good portion of Texas was showing highs of 68-72. Same zip codes are now showing 72-80.

To answer your thread question, I would not be very concerned but obviously check for signs of leakage. Maybe you’ll even “have” to pop one to look for veins on the cork!

[ky1em1ttskus]

@M. Dildine

@Chris Seiber

It wouldn’t concern me the tiniest bit, but I’m not part of the Cult of Wine Always Needing Perfect Storage Conditions. I doubt there’s much wine in the world that hasn’t sat around at 80 degrees at some point in its life.

+1

+2

[Ben_J]

I’d definitely check the corks/capsules for signs of leakage… if you taste it, you’ll know if it was damaged.

[Sc0tt_F_tzgerald]

@Markus S

Isn’t 82F a Texas winter?

No, but it is our “fall”!

[Sc0tt_F_tzgerald]

@Alan Rath

Is it possible to have change the delivery to have them hold it at the facility, and just pick it up there?

I should have someone home to receive these tomorrow, fortunately. My UPS guy rocks, BTW, so this has nothing to do with them.

[Sc0tt_F_tzgerald]

@Mary Baker

@Scott Fitzgerald

I’ve been emailing with Littorai about a shipment they’re sending to me this week, via UPS Ground, which will arrive this Thursday. The high temp in TX this week is in the low eighties. I told them this is too hot, but was too late as these have already released. Am I overreacting here or is my concern legit?

Is this a standing wine club shipment? Don’t they have any ability to attach customer preferences to memberships? Shoot, I was doing that 5-7 years ago, and if a customer wanted his wines shipped only during certain weather windows, that note was attached to his membership profile and we would call to confirm. Of course, that doesn’t mean you get to have a hissy fit if the weather changes from one day in December to the next, but still, why is your question about one shipment in particular when it sounds as though your question should be about their customer process?

No, this isn’t a club shipment. These are SVD’s, which is another reason I don’t want to just “pop one” when they arrive to see if they’re okay. I did ask them to put a note in my file to only ship Nov-Feb to Texas. And yes, my question is about their process of relying on a warehouse shipper who is okay shipping wine UPS Ground when it may break 90+ degrees later this week.

To be fair, I received a VERY nice note from Littorai today stating they would stand by their wines or issue a recall, if I want. At this point, I think I’ll just swing by my wine storage place this weekend to check - if there’s no visible sign of damage, I’ll just let it go.

[Sc0tt_F_tzgerald]

@CJ Beazley

The trouble here is those UPS trucks have a skylight in the roof and it gets boiling in there even on an 80-85* day. JJ Buckley is pulling out of Texas and urging customers to ship this week from Houston, and it’s just too warm.

Ugh, bad news for me. I have quite a bit of wine at JJB in Houston waiting to ship to me.

[ky1em1ttskus]

@JDonner

@Kyle Schlachter

@JDonner

I don’t get why wineries take the risk when they could just wait a couple of weeks for cooler temps. To me, I prefer to error on the cooler side than hotter. I am in Nor Cal so I have a longer window than some very northern states but I never ship when High Temps are over 74F and will go down to 30F for lows.

Because temperatures across the country are not the same. Choosing to ship individual customer’s orders when the temperatures at point A, point B and every point in between are ideal is way too much work…

Good…I will make a note to never ship with you. I am lucky to live very close to where the wine is shipped from.
I have all my shipments setup for Dec. 1(or the Monday after Thanksgiving) or 8th. Most of my wine only travels about 50 miles or less and temps are usually between 45-63F which is my ideal.

I’m honestly curious and not trying to . Do you think that your wine is always kept within those temps or close to? Or in other words, do you think that the wine you receive hasn’t reached a temp of say, 80*, since it was bottled? Or is this specifically a shipping issue for you?

[M_A_T_T_H_A_R_T_L_E_Y]

@Scott Fitzgerald

I’ve been emailing with Littorai about a shipment they’re sending to me this week, via UPS Ground, which will arrive this Thursday. The high temp in TX this week is in the low eighties. I told them this is too hot, but was too late as these have already released. Am I overreacting here or is my concern legit?

I would not worry until you have something to worry about…wine could be fine. Wine could be cooked. Might as well relax until it arrives.

I’m sure a winery like Littorai will make it right if there is an issue.

[JDonner]

I just think it is funny(not Haha) that people pay alot of money and spend time acquiring Wine and then ship with risk in high temps, when they could easily wait a few weeks for wines that probably will sit in their cellars for years. Wine is perishable and wines without much tannic structure are very precocious to begin with, why take the chance?
I would probably not have as extensive a cellar or acquire so much if I lived in states that shipping was “going to be an issue” as well.
I find it also “scary” to hear several Winemakers on this thread belittle the shipping circumstance or say it is “too Much work”. GMABreak…
Wineries who ship to you in these circumstances only do so because it is easier for them and have a fulfillment center that just want to get the job done and don’t really care about “your” particular package. That is the majority of the issues i see with shipping from smaller organizations. Lot 18 was excellent at shipping in hot weather, because it was shipped from a fulfillment center. You can research my posts on how “wonderful” I thought they were.

[Phill.WC]

I’m in the Dallas burbs and also expecting my Littorai bottles today. I think it will be fine. I’ll pop one open tonight (don’t care about all that let it settle nonsense)

[Sc0tt_F_tzgerald]

For all my drama, my bottles arrived today and were cool to the touch.

[Kirk.Grant]

@Scott Fitzgerald

Wine is supposed to deliver Thursday when it’s in the low 80’s. If I somehow miss the delivery, the next day it’s supposed to jump to 91. I think they could have waited a few weeks just to be sure. The thought of all my Littorai babies getting warm just makes my skin crawl!

Contact UPS or Fed Ex and ask them to hold them at the closest warehouse. Go pick them up “after hours”. Our UPS allows 7:15pm pick up…and they stay inside the warehouse all day long (about 70-75 degrees). I’m in the camp of taking “extra care” for temps…but I also believe I’m likely to over-react sometimes.

[Joe_S]

@Scott Fitzgerald

For all my drama, my bottles arrived today and were cool to the touch.

Whew - good news! Think I’ll pop open a Littorai tonight in celebration for you!

[Phill.WC]

@Scott Fitzgerald

For all my drama, my bottles arrived today and were cool to the touch.

Awesome! I was away from the house when UPS attempted to deliver so now going on day 2 of Littorai bottles in a UPS joy ride.

[Sc0tt_F_tzgerald]

Oh man, sorry to hear that. This is clearly a wider spread issue than just my personal delivery.

[AKuehn]

Maybe the cool/warm to the touch test works for some, but here on the Southeast coast, I have had wine shipped from California that has been cool to the touch on arrival, but has nevertheless clearly been heat damaged (leaks, protruding corks). Wine can go through quite a lot on a cross-country trip. I’m probably more cautious now than I once was because those particular bottles never did get refunded or replaced.

Once bitten, twice shy.