Dave
Wine Thief
Posts:2852
 | | 03/16/2006 9:43 AM |
| Quote:
I've bought from Premier Cru a few times. All experiences with their customer service have not been good. They are rushed, not helping, and almost rude.
I had some wine come in and asked them to ship ground on Monday. The wine sat in a Texas warehouse over the weekend at 75 degree weather. I called Premier Cru to discuss this matter as I am afraid of the possibility that the wine could be cooked. They blamed me for shipping ground instead of overnight. How ridiculous! I told them I have been buying wine and having them shipped from Cali to Texas by ground on a Monday and it has never taken over 5 business days. It seemed like UPS dropped the ball and the package got misplaced and had to be rerouted which consumed an extra day or two. They also told me that they weren't responsible and basically tough crap.
In a sense that sounds like my experiences at Home Depot. I gladly go there because I like the prices. If I want to be coddled, I go to my local hardware store and pay higher prices. | | | |
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Daniel Posner
Grape Fermenter
Posts:586
| | 03/16/2006 2:28 PM |
| Bella,
If you know ground "could" take 5 business days, even with a UPS glitch, tough to blame the retailer. I would not worry though if it was only 75 degrees out, seriously, the wine probably did not cook.
Quote:
I've bought from Premier Cru a few times. All experiences with their customer service have not been good. They are rushed, not helping, and almost rude.
I had some wine come in and asked them to ship ground on Monday. The wine sat in a Texas warehouse over the weekend at 75 degree weather. I called Premier Cru to discuss this matter as I am afraid of the possibility that the wine could be cooked. They blamed me for shipping ground instead of overnight. How ridiculous! I told them I have been buying wine and having them shipped from Cali to Texas by ground on a Monday and it has never taken over 5 business days. It seemed like UPS dropped the ball and the package got misplaced and had to be rerouted which consumed an extra day or two. They also told me that they weren't responsible and basically tough crap.
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Randy Sloan
St. Helena
Barrel Sampler
Posts:2054
| | 03/16/2006 3:11 PM |
| Ah, I have so many wines pending from years past at Premier Cru. I don't shop there any more. They are just too slow on fulfillment. However, on the shipping issue, they sound like they are justified.
Except for west coasties, we always highly recommend 2 Day Air. Ground is unpredictable. Sure, you might know how long ground normally takes to your location, but the nature of that shipping option means that if UPS gets busy, a truck is full, etc., the ground shipment waits. 2 Day means 2 Day. Ground means as quickly as possible using the scheduled truck capacity.
If the cost difference between 2 Day Air and Ground is that important to you, I suggest ordering one less bottle of wine and shipping the safe way.
Anyway, that limited exposure to 75 degrees isn't going to hurt your wine. | |
Randy Sloan
Match Vineyards | |
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Winetex
Austin, Texas
Master of Wine
Posts:10573
| | 03/16/2006 4:14 PM |
| Quote:
If the cost difference between 2 Day Air and Ground is that important to you, I suggest ordering one less bottle of wine and shipping the safe way.
Anyway, that limited exposure to 75 degrees isn't going to hurt your wine.
Absolutely on both counts.
BellaDonna - I know air delivery is more money but it is money well-spent. Premier Cru's air delivery is reasonable. I don't worry about 75 degrees, your house and mine are probably warmer than that at times. | | | |
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Wine Nightly
Grape Stomper
Posts:124
| | 03/16/2006 4:23 PM |
| | 3 day select is another option. The price is in between 2 day air and ground. | | | |
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Winetex
Austin, Texas
Master of Wine
Posts:10573
| | 03/16/2006 4:31 PM |
| Randy mentioned Pegau in another thread. I noticed that PC still has this
1998 Chateauneuf Cuvee Laurence, Pegau
$79.95
Pre-Arrival
Complete Description:
96 points Parker: "The 1998 Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee Laurence, the finest example of this offering I have yet tasted (even better than the 1989, 1990, and 1995), spent four years in small barrels prior to being bottled unfiltered. A spectacular effort, it is a monument to great Chateauneuf du Pape. A dense plum/purple color is followed by aromas of sweet black fruits intermixed with tobacco, cedar, pepper, and fruitcake. Powerful, rich, and concentrated, with a finish that lasts for nearly a minute, this wine is performing far better than when I tasted it a year ago. It is a legendary Chateauneuf du Pape in the making. Anticipated maturity: 2005-2025."
I bought mine via pre-arrival and received them already. This is a great wine at a decent price for what it is (aged, high-quality Rhone). My bottles were pristine. | | | |
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Dave
Wine Thief
Posts:2852
| | 03/16/2006 5:21 PM |
| Quote:
Randy mentioned Pegau in another thread. I noticed that PC still has this
1998 Chateauneuf Cuvee Laurence, Pegau
$79.95
Pre-Arrival
Complete Description:
96 points Parker: "The 1998 Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee Laurence, the finest example of this offering I have yet tasted (even better than the 1989, 1990, and 1995), spent four years in small barrels prior to being bottled unfiltered. A spectacular effort, it is a monument to great Chateauneuf du Pape. A dense plum/purple color is followed by aromas of sweet black fruits intermixed with tobacco, cedar, pepper, and fruitcake. Powerful, rich, and concentrated, with a finish that lasts for nearly a minute, this wine is performing far better than when I tasted it a year ago. It is a legendary Chateauneuf du Pape in the making. Anticipated maturity: 2005-2025."
I bought mine via pre-arrival and received them already. This is a great wine at a decent price for what it is (aged, high-quality Rhone). My bottles were pristine.
Get behind me, Satan! | | | |
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JonesWineNo1
Sommelier
Posts:8568
| | 03/16/2006 5:43 PM |
| | Frankly, I would not purchase a 8 year old grey market pre arrival from PC no matter what the price was but that's just me. Everyone has a different risk profile. | | | |
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Blair Ridley
Wine Labeler
Posts:3980
| | 03/16/2006 6:20 PM |
| | I bought a grey market bottle of the '98 Pegau Laurence from Zachys last year. It was a very nice wine (but I thought the '98 Charvin was better). | | | |
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Winetex
Austin, Texas
Master of Wine
Posts:10573
| | 03/16/2006 7:57 PM |
| Quote:
Everyone has a different risk profile.
Yup, I only bought a few bottles and it didn't really bother me. Pegau is one of the producers that I very familiar with and I know what the wine should taste like. Good stuff. | | | |
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JonesWineNo1
Sommelier
Posts:8568
| | 03/16/2006 8:35 PM |
| | I must be missing something - what does knowing how a wine tastes have to do with the risk of purchasing older prearrival wines? Does Premier Cru guarantee one's satisfaction with the wine once it arrives (i.e. if it tastes tired are they going to refund you your money). I'm not trying to start something. I just don't understand where you are coming from. | | | |
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Winetex
Austin, Texas
Master of Wine
Posts:10573
| | 03/16/2006 8:56 PM |
| Quote:
I must be missing something - what does knowing how a wine tastes have to do with the risk of purchasing older prearrival wines?
You're right - there is no real connection. I'm tired from traveling and my brain is fried. I judge the risk to fairly low for me as I'm going to try the wine and if there is a problem Premier Cru will refund my money. In my experience they are good about this but I've heard different stories. | | | |
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Winetex
Austin, Texas
Master of Wine
Posts:10573
| | 03/29/2006 8:24 PM |
| I actually received an email today informing me that some of my wines were in and how soon could they ship them.
Now that's progress. | | | |
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skwid
Wine Connoisseur
Posts:5452
| | 03/29/2006 11:26 PM |
| Quote:
I actually received an email today informing me that some of my wines were in and how soon could they ship them.
Now that's progress.
This is part of the new website upgrade that will be rolling out. The new PC website is pretty cool. I can see all my purchases back to 2002. | | | |
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ChangeMe
Grape Sorter
Posts:218
| | 03/30/2006 10:10 AM |
| Quote:
This is part of the new website upgrade that will be rolling out. The new PC website is pretty cool. I can see all my purchases back to 2002.
Hey, that is nice. Now, if they can deliver '03 Bordeaux futures in a timely manner, I'll have a whole new opinion of them. | | | |
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skwid
Wine Connoisseur
Posts:5452
| | 03/30/2006 1:28 PM |
| | Btw, for those of you who want to check out the new Premier Cru website just go to http://beta.premiercru.net/ and you can take a look at the new features. You can login to your account just like you do on the regular site. | | | |
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scottj
Houston, TX
Grape Fermenter
Posts:552
| | 03/30/2006 2:52 PM |
| It looks like you don't need to go to the beta site any more ...
The regular site, http://www.premiercru.net , is the new site.
Scott | | | |
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Winetex
Austin, Texas
Master of Wine
Posts:10573
| | 04/19/2006 4:32 PM |
| | Is anyone else having trouble with Premier Cru's RSS feeds? The little voice inside my head says this probably isn't a bad thing but I was wondering if it was only through my RSS reader (Bloglines). TIA. | | | |
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wineismylife
Arlington, TX
Master of Wine
Posts:12003
| | 04/19/2006 5:30 PM |
| Quote:
Is anyone else having trouble with Premier Cru's RSS feeds? The little voice inside my head says this probably isn't a bad thing but I was wondering if it was only through my RSS reader (Bloglines). TIA.
Same problem here. | |
Joe
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Wine is like potato chips around me...if it's open, it's gone. | |
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Al_ksyrah
Barrel Filler
Posts:1033
| | 04/19/2006 8:45 PM |
| Think of how much money you're saving.
-Al |
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