Right now I am looking to buy a bottle of 1983 Bordeaux for my friend's birthday this week (83 is his birth year) and found one I am interested in through Flickinger Fine Wines out of Chicago. My friend lives in Minneapolis (I'm in Portland, OR) and figured I would ship directly to him.
However, I am really unsure about which shipping I should select. I don't particularly want to spend nearly $50 for Overnight service, but $20 for 2-day Air is reasonable enough. I figured that with the warm temperatures that the Midwest is experiencing lately, it'd be better to choose the quickest method and not even look at Ground service (despite it being cheap).
However, on their shipping policies page, they make note to say that there is a risk involved in shipping older wines via air because the pressure changes can cause cork failure.
So now I'm torn. I don't want the cork to pop out, but I don't want the wine cooked either! So I am wondering which method I should choose. Flickinger says they will hold the wine for a short amount of time during extreme weather conditions, but I have no idea how hot it will stay in Minneapolis and I'd rather not have his gift delivered a month after his birthday.
Do any of you who ship/receive shipped older bottles of wine have any insight on which would be the best method? I'd like to make the purchase as soon as possible.
Thanks for all of your help!
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