Storybook Mountain Mayacamas Range Zinfandel 2003

I would suggest smaller lot sizes. It is a big commitment to buy 6 bottles of a wine I haven’t tasted. Also with fewer bottles you can lower the price point and get more fish on the hook. I might have ordered a 3 pack for half the price.

Just a thought

Don’t worry too much, wine is shipped cross country all the time (it is just more risky during the summer). If properly packaged, and put towards the middle of the truck, your wine has a better chance of not being cooked. A good way to test the wine if you don’t quite know how to rate a wine is to buy the same bottle of wine from your local wine shop (not a grocery store, but a quality wine shop) open both bottles and do a little wine tasting party. See if there is a difference. If not then keep ordering from the website.

Two things to keep in mind . . .
(1) Wine is shipped all the time and the vinyard is going to package the wine to be able and handle the trip.

(2) The wine is being shipped directly from the vinyard (at least from woot it is) and they know how to ship wine. If the vinyard knows shipping ground will destroy their product, then they won’t ship it that way (at least I hope not).

Your wine will probably be okay, but there is a real concern in shipping ground during the summer months, and woot seems to be trying to solve this problem. I didn’t mean to scare anyone off from buying online, but I do want every consumer to be aware of the risk. Woot is doing all the right things by having it shipped from the vinyard, so I wouldn’t worry. But if you decide to order from a different site like wine.com, then do a little research to find out how the wine is stored, where it is shipped from, and who does the packaging.

I wouldn’t mind paying a little extra in shipping to get the wine shipped faster, as long as the total is still saving me money from going to my wine shop.

What’s the procedure for dealing with leakage issues? I called the St. Supery wine store shipping department to let them know I had leaky bottles. Is there someone at woot I should get in touch with?

yes, please email service@woot.com and we can assist.

I just received my 12 bottles of St Suprey and everything looks fine. No leaks, and the bottles are cool to the touch…of course that certainly doesn’t mean they didn’t get hot, but I will report here if there is any problem.

I think the shipping issue must be solved or at least have the risk factor lowered… I am certain that all the risk can not be alleviated. Maybe a combination of speedier shipping and the use of some sort of a more insulated carton would lower the risks? Maybe just a double layer of cardboard or some other material would help. Maybe it would make it worse for all I know! The box i just received was perfect for protecting against breakage…but not at all as far as insulation is concerned. Seems like a little would maybe help lower some of the risk factor. People ship meat all over the place…there must be a solution.

What if shipping were to occur on Mondays, giving 5 days to get anywhere without sitting on a dock over the weekend? And maybe in some cases, 3 or 4 day service? And offer overnight, or two day air? Most places would be covered by this…maybe not all, but this is a problem with more than one solution?

Risk is relative…we all take risks just buying wine like this in the first place. But think about it…how does the wine in your local store get there? What has it gone through? How long and how many warehouses has it sat in , changing hands from winery to one wholesaler to the next… to shipper to store… Have you really ever asked? Seems to me the risk of a relatively quick delivery straight from the winery with no time delays or middlemen is less than buying from your local store…unless your store is unusual. Most don’t know much more than the average person…just get a good looking wine rack and make the display look nice…right next to the Bud…that is what it is all about here in Wyoming…I am 4 hours at least from Denver, the nearest large city, where there is anyone that really knows anything about wine.

Still…there are places in this country that would seem to be rather impossible to get a box of wine to in good shape. So…there in lies the problem, yes? Maybe this is a seasonal thing…gulp…hope not, but maybe.
Of course there is one other solution…we could all move to Napa Valley…see?..problem solved. I want a job being a problem solver… k?
Think I will go open a bottle and contemplate the meaning of the universe.
Cheers!
Tunes

So tempting.

But I will wait for a Bottle of Crap. j/k

Scary Personals

I def agree with the shipping idea you have proposed. I used to receive cake and cookie packages from my parents through the Internet. They used some form of dry ice on the cake to preserve its temperature. I dont fully understand the technology. But i dont see why the packaging could not be created in such a way to allow a dry ice like substance to be packaged with the wine without freezing it.

I think you really have to offer multiple shipping options. Not sure how logistically you can do that, but it’s going to be key to get the wine lovers on board. Some people may not be as concerned about transit as others so Ground is fine. But, especially with a high alcohol Zin, some will want to mitigate risk by getting two-day.

in theory, wine can get heat damage or get “cooked” in a single hot day while in the ups/fedex van. i have ordered wine delivered to los angeles area for several years, and i can assure you, there are always hot days to worry about. i haven’t had a problem yet, although, like tunes posted above, you never know how wine is stored or delivered at the local wine shop, either.

my rule of thumb is, the wine will probably be ok (from heat damage), because i figure the ups/fedex driver is too busy to park in the middle of an asphalt lot for 8 hours straight, locked tight, without moving. and he’s going in and out of the back while picking up his boxes for delivery.
if he can survive, the wine probably will, too.

of course, that’s only ONE of a million reasons the wine might not be good… and that’s why i LOVE the world of wine!!

Actually Zin does not age well and is meant to be consumed within the first couple of years. Zin’s from Ridge Winery is about the only exception to aging, which are usually the tannins integrated with the fruit…not the alcohol content.

Just bought 10 cases of BV tapestry for $16 a bottle, gonna last me for awhile.

its true that you can do this… but as i understand it’s not really the temperature thats the problem, its fluctuations in the temperature. wines that are stored at warmer temps will age faster than normal. i think woot needs better disclosure of how the shipping will go

you might want to check out shipping notes at awinestore:
http://shop.awinestore.com/shipping.htm

I am still waiting for my Supéry 2000 Cabernet Sauvignon / Merlot Sampler to show up in Arizona (we are in the 110’s now).

Future purchases will really be based on how well that wine shows up. For some reason in Arizona the wine does not arrive UPS. It comes by way of courier/DHL (at least it did when I ordered the refriscante from woot.com) shipped from a local shop - so perhaps this is a better.

One possible answer to detecting heat damage. protecting Woot and its customers, and promoting good handling by the carrier…

Relatively inexpensive thermal sensitive dots which change color/shade (and can only continue to progress rather than change back) as the temperature increases? This would mark the high temperature experienced by the wine in shipping. You could even mount them on the exterior of the cases for inspection when the driver brought the package to the door. (Dots to be inspected prior to signature, of course.)

OK, I should get a prize for this idea. :slight_smile: How about a year’s worth of winewoots? Would make a great story for the press. Photo opportunities at delivery. Sound bites. (Sound sips not bites??) I can see some contiuing publicity being garnered for wine.woot’s commitment to consumers, love for their dedicated online community, and, of course, for their wonderful service and prices !

2 things

  1. I LOVE the idea of wine woot! I am eager to see which I will end up spending more money on, wine or regular woot.

  2. However the concerns about summer shipping are very valid and I will hold off untill they are either put down by customers who know good wine from vinegar, or Fall. Which ever comes first. I trust woot.com, I really do I just don’t trust UPS to care for my wine any better then they care for the rest of the packages. I have a very hard time believing shipping can be temperature controlled from point A to B.

I got my 12 bottles of St. Supery yesterday. Inspected them fairly close (I’m not a wine snob by any means) and saw no signs of any leakage, etc. It’s been fairly cool here in the cincinnati area, with highs in the 70’s for the last several days.

I contacted UPS and told them I wanted to pick it up at the local depot. While this was primarily because I couldn’t be at home to sign for the package, I also figured the warehouse wouldn’t “hot box” like the back of a truck could.

I have to agree with the person who said that it seems like there is some concern here that likely isn’t warranted. 7 days ago, my wine was at the vineyard. Who knows where wine has been that is purchased in stores. This isn’t investment quality wine here, it’s a $14 bottle of cab. You pays your money, you takes your chances.

3 for 3. I hope it’s good!

Great idea, but you’re not the first to think of it. Ponsot already uses them (or used them, to be more accurate). Read on for more info…

http://dat.erobertparker.com/bboard/showthread.php?t=78338

http://dat.erobertparker.com/bboard/showthread.php?t=91130

Well, this is certainly different information than I have. Not to say it is wrong, but I leartned this 30 years ago from a vintner who specialized in creating Napa zin. The vinyard was Roudon/Smith, I have no idea if they are still around. What he told me was that the sugar content in the grapes dictated the ultimate alcohol content. The zin in particular was a high-sugar grape, and that the fermentation process was stopped before all of the sugars were converted to keep the alcohol content below 15%. This typically meant there were residual sugars in the wine (resulting in the slightly sweeter taste of a good zin) that would continue to break down with age and improve the wine. He also taught me that when you are looking for a wine to put away for a number of years, the higher alcohol content was a good indicator of the ageability of the wine for the same reason.

I have had a 15-year old bottle of zin that was amazing.

I would love to hear contrarian views on this.

FYI… here’s a useful link:

Shopzilla’s Listing for Storybook Mountain Zinfandels

…they’ve got a good amount, as well as plenty of other vineyards/stores. You can find this particular product on their list for as little as $24.99 per. That comes to $149.94 per 6 bottles, for all the math majors.