As reported by Vino Girl , earlier this week. A nice bottle of '76 La Mission Haut Brion hit our offices in the sweltering heat. Now I can hear you saying, "Oh, winemonkey clearly this must have been an error on the retailer's part that would not happen again." Alas, such is not the case as anecdotal evidence has indicated that our unnamed supplier has offended yet again.
But this post is not meant to be an indictment of this retailer. No, this post is an indictment of the entire wine industry. Producers to wholesalers to retailers ignoring that wine should not be shipped unrefrigerated. So I ask you, how is it that a $2 gallon of milk is shipped so easily in refrigerated trucks yet $100 wine goes into the hot box?
Now don't get me wrong, there have been many producers that refuse to ship in the oppressive heat that much of the country has been experiencing, but a quick scan of the major bulletin boards and you can see the complaints of those that received yet another shipment of wine club wine in the dead of summer. And don't even get me started on the wholesalers and distributors.
No one is saying you shouldn't make a buck. That is hardly the case. If a customer wants to take the risk, let them. But when a customer specifically says not to ship something into the heat or worse doesn't even know its coming (e.g. wine clubs) perhaps cash flow should take a back door to prudence.
Or else you may find your customers are taking the back door to you.
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