Benchmark Wines is offering me Fedex cold chain shipping this month for the same price as ground shipping. I tried cold chain shipping once before and felt the wines didnt arrive cool/cold. I am not in a rush to receive the wines. Is it worth getting shipment of my wines now in August heat via cold chain shipment or should I just wait until Oct/Nov and ship via ground?
I had Fedex cold chain shipping done a few weeks ago and the driver said he can’t believe people are shipping wine at this time of year. He said the cold chain was misleading and all they have is AC in the front cabin for the driver. The back and the warehouse do not have temperature control. Fortunately for me it only took the night to get here and arrived in the morning, Napa to Vegas.
Interesting; I got an email from Benchmark on Aug. 1 saying that the weather in my area (Virginia) is ideal for shipping (August, in Virginia). No mention of Cold Chain, but I assume it was just a form email sent to all their customers with wines being held for shipping; Benchmark’s been very reliable so I’m not worried that they’d ship without my sayso.
One place I buy from ships this way. They say that the bulk of the shipping is cold chain until it reaches the local hub. So the last day of local delivery is a regular truck.
In June, Corison offered to ship cold chain instead of waiting until the Fall. I opted to wait. I don’t want my wine going cross country in the summer.
Benchmark really pushed the cold chain on me, when I wanted to do a weatherhold, so I eventually relented and everything arrived (seemingly) fine, but I don’t think I’ll be ordering from them anymore since they were so pushy about it. This was in the spring with a high in the low 80s, wine was delivered in the morning while it was still in the low 70s.
We had that done once but it ended up the cold shipping was only to Albuquerque. From Albuquerque to Santa Fe it was two guys in a Subaru with the windows open.
I’ve looked into it and haven’t pursued it further.
The chain ends at the last major hub. From there it is Priority Overnight. Which isn’t perfect but first attempt before 10 AM is pretty good. And critical. If that first attempt is missed…
It is also a bit of logistical nightmare as they only pickup on certain days from specific locations. Ie: I can’t overnight on my schedule, I’m beholden to their pickups.
Psychologically I also think there is a disconnect inherent in the process. No one else is shipping to me in July-Sept, why are they? Does the end recipient appreciate the effort/expense? It is a great option to have but not one I would use unless I absolutely had to
The absolute best option I have found is Vine Vault…Spottswoode uses them and that’s how I discovered them. They have refrigerated shipping door to door $70/case. I live in South Florida and first received wine from them last May (my Spottswoode allocation) that was 55 degrees…I nearly fell over! I don’t know why more wineries don’t utilize them…
If regular shipping is $40-50 anyway, and you live in a place like south Florida which is not good for shipping year round, the upcharge, particularly for a high ticket wine like Spottswoode, sounds well worth it.