quote:

Originally posted by James Suckling:
I think if you have not received your 2005 futures by now, you have some major problems. That is not right. In fact, I doubt you will ever see your purchase.

I'll agree but make an exception for Premier Cru. You will get their futures, but you'll need to keep checking with them. Don't expect the wines to just show up on your doorstep.

quote:

Posted Mar 24, 2009 05:18 PM Hide Post
I think if you have not received your 2005 futures by now, you have some major problems. That is not right. In fact, I doubt you will ever see your purchase.

Perhaps in the "old" days but I have futures with three stores that are outstanding and I'm beginning to think that 2005 was just a crazy vintage with the port strike and enormous futures campaign. Keep the faith...

quote:

Originally posted by James Suckling:
I think if you have not received your 2005 futures by now, you have some major problems. That is not right. In fact, I doubt you will ever see your purchase.

Just received my '05 Bahans HB last week by my LWS, and expect to receive my '05 Poyferre within a couple of weeks. I'm not worried, it's not like they were going to go bad if I didn't get them last month.

quote:

Originally posted by Lentini:
Good... maybe Premier Cru will finally be able to deliver my LLC and Malescot St E before 2010.

Still waiting for a 3 pack of La Fleur-Petrus. Was told in a recent email that it will be here in 3-6 months.

But why haven't you received them? The 2006s are shipping now. Wine merchants should have no excuse for not sending you your wine. Plus, they have had your money for almost two years now? That is bad business practice in my opinion.

I could be wrong, but I believe large retailers like Premier Cru place additional orders for wine as the futures sell out. I placed my few futures orders early and got my wines sooner than others on this board who placed orders later.

Board-O... I ordered the LLC on first offer, so I don't think the time you order necessarily matters. But I DO think your point about being a squeaky wheel will affect your delivery. Case in point: My Malescot was showing as in-stock for a little while, and then all of a sudden was back to not delivered. I think a squeaky wheel got my bottles!! (That's never happened in any other instance, so the wheel must have been REALLY squeaky or it was a different mistake or my eyes were deceiving me.)

quote:

Originally posted by James Suckling:
But why haven't you received them? The 2006s are shipping now. Wine merchants should have no excuse for not sending you your wine. Plus, they have had your money for almost two years now? That is bad business practice in my opinion.

Premier Cru usually gets a pass from most customers for being late because first, their prices are frequently best in the country, and second, they always come through eventually (from my experience). It's not ideal, but with the wines generally needing age anyway... most of us are perfectly fine waiting. Also, I'll point out (knock on wood) that I've never had a single bad bottle from them... cooked or in bad condition.

One I was waiting on for a long time came in... a 1997 Vallagarina. They tasted some of the delivered wine... and it was awful, they told me. They opened more and foudn out the whole lot was in bad condition. Did not taste good. So they asked me if I wanted to cancel the order or let them keep searching to replace the lot.

So as long as Premier Cru isn't operating some big ponzi scheme... We're all good.

Suggestion: How about Wine Spectator do some investigative journalism and tell us the mechanics behind why their deliveries are so late?

I don't think I was actually a squeaky wheel. I called a couple of times to check when the wines came in and when they were, I had them shipped. I've gotten some great deals from Premier Cru, so I put up with having to call and check when the wines arrive.

They should be delivered by now. Something went wrong. I would give them a call if I were you.

All,
This is part of a response I received the other day from PC.

Thank you for your continued patience on these. They absolutely ARE coming. We have 360 more bottles of 04 Latour coming from a very reliable European negociant with whom we have done business literally for more than a decade. Although they are often slow to deliver, they always do deliver, and they take very good care of the wines (as we do once they are in our hands). We actually have a whole large refrigerated container being assembled right now just with this negociants wines. While we do not yet have a listing of which wines they are sending, it is certainly reasonable to expect these wines will be part of the shipment. Similarly, we have 456 more bottles of 05 Kirwan coming in, and most of these are from that same negociant.

Be a squeaky wheel,as it sometimes helps.

quote:

Originally posted by NPF1Fan:
All,
This is part of a response I received the other day from PC.

Thank you for your continued patience on these. They absolutely ARE coming. We have 360 more bottles of 04 Latour coming from a very reliable European negociant with whom we have done business literally for more than a decade. Although they are often slow to deliver, they always do deliver, and they take very good care of the wines (as we do once they are in our hands). We actually have a whole large refrigerated container being assembled right now just with this negociants wines. While we do not yet have a listing of which wines they are sending, it is certainly reasonable to expect these wines will be part of the shipment. Similarly, we have 456 more bottles of 05 Kirwan coming in, and most of these are from that same negociant.

Be a squeaky wheel,as it sometimes helps.

Sometimes they squeak the wheels on their own. I had 3 bottles showing up in inventory and ready to deliver for some time, but waited until I had enough other arrivals to deliver a case. When other bottles were in and shipping was arranged, the 3 bottles that had been showing up in inventory were not there when the delivery arrived, and instead there were 3 bottles of an 05 bordeaux (which had not been showing up in inventory). I contacted PC, they said when they went to pull bottles, the one that had been showing up in inventory was not available in sufficient supply, and rather than reducing my shipment they substituted with earlier delivery on the (much more expensive) 05 bordeaux. Maybe it had just arrived and was availble for delivery, or maybe they pulled it from wine that was being stored for someone else, either way I was pleased that they decided to do this (that's probably also what happened to my bottles that were no longer in inventory). Besides being nervous that any business could bite the dust, I am fine waiting...and if PC is taking money now and sourcing wine later, as many have pointed out the recent market conditions would certainly not hurt them (and therefore would presumably increase the probability that we would get their wine).

PC is expecting a big delivery of delinquent 05 Bordeaux next month. I would not be concerned.

I ordered my 2005 Futures (108 bottles) in June 2006 from WINEX. I received my last bottle (Haut Brion) on 19 January 2009. It was a very positive experience with WINEX.

quote:

Originally posted by NYCWINECONSUMER:
PC is expecting a big delivery of delinquent 05 Bordeaux next month. I would not be concerned.

quote:

Originally posted by NYCWINECONSUMER:
PC is expecting a big delivery of delinquent 05 Bordeaux next month. I would not be concerned.

I agree, PC may be slow but they have always come through for me.

quote:

Originally posted by Redhawk:
I got my 2005 futures. Still waiting for some '06.

Ooops, I forgot. I still have a magnum of Smith Haut Lafitte headed my way. Just confirmed the shop, it's en-route and will arrive shortly. (they have been 100% reliable in the past).

quote:

But why haven't you received them? The 2006s are shipping now. Wine merchants should have no excuse for not sending you your wine. Plus, they have had your money for almost two years now? That is bad business practice in my opinion.

James you are assuming that the wine merchants are the ones to blame for the wines arriving late. What about the negotiants??

Oh, and trust me, I have called on all my outstanding futures, and I still have 8 more wines to go until I have all mine.

My friend, the chateaus shipped the wines ages ago and I assume the same is for negociants. If a wine merchant hasn't delivered 2005 Bordeaux futures yet, then you should ask them why. It's not right!

James, it's my understanding that PC sources many wines in the gray market. They would not have been on the original shipments, but rather when a source can be found. Is it right for them to take orders for wine which they do not have a confirmed source for? Probably not, but as others have said, they have always eventually came through.

I am in the same boat with PC, and I am not really worried. They have never failed to deliver.

Where I am worried is with a case of Malescot ordered from Binny's.

Initially they told me it would arrive in October. When it didn't, I started calling and emailing. They did not return the calls or emails for quite a while. I finally received an email response in February. This is the response:

"As of yet our negotiant has not ship the 05 Malescot, and we are still receiving 05 Bordeaux every week. As soon as hear from our negotiant of a delivery date I will contact."

I am still waiting....

I picked up my Malescot delivery from Binny's on February 14, 2009. Might want to check again.

VM

Thanks VM....

I am still missing a case of 2005 Château Faugères from "The Wine House". They just told me that the wine will not arrive until the end of April or beginning of May...Should I be worried about this wine? Should I ask them for a refund since my shipping window (i.e. Texas) will be over by then?

It should be noted that "The Wine House" already send me all my other 2005 orders (all magnums): Clos Fourtet, Clos de Sarpe, and Pontet Canet...

JAR

I just received a response from Binnys regarding two of my outstanding futures with them. Seems some of the negotiants are slower than others, and sometimes it takes a few shipments to fill all the orders.

JAR I wouldn't cancel that order. It would appear that other people are in the same boat as yourself. Also, it's gonna be real hard to find the 2005 Faugeres anywhere else.

khmark7:

Thanks for the advice; I will follow it.

FYI, I was just a little frustrated with their response after I got off the phone. I guess I need to be more patient with them since they've already fulfilled other 2005 Bordeaux orders...