Cold weather and shipping

We recently sent out our wine club shipments (February 5th). Many of the shipments arrived on the east coast February 12th. We were hit with over 30 damaged shipments. The wines got too cold and the corks began to pop out of the bottles.

How does everyone manage their weather holds? I’m telling some that we will re-ship in April. We have Shipcompliant, but the temperature map seems to be pretty basic. We’ve put a freeze advisory on our website which says we aren’t responsible for frozen wines, but it’s very unfortunate if a customer does receive one.

How long should you put an order on weather hold? We are holding until the weather is at least 45 degrees in their area, but temperatures vary across the country so it seems like rocket science to actually know when to ship. Any input is appreciated!

I watch the overnight temps on the travel path, so I watch the USA map on The Weather Channel, which give you 10 days/nights out. My rule of thumb is if overnight temps are below 30 degrees, I generally won’t ship. I have to sort of think out where the wine will be when. Since I’m in CA, I have to be able to get Mon-Fri with overnights all being 30+ degrees at night. I also don’t ship mid-week unless it’s fairly local and will make it by Friday. Generally, I ship on Monday’s to lessen the chance of the wine sitting over a weekend anywhere. I’m sure there are more sophisticated ways to do this, but this is my “down-n-dirty” weather hold method :slight_smile: For states like WI, I just tell them I will ship their winter wine with the March order to avoid it entirely, where I can.

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Your shipment went right through the middle of the well publicized Polar Vortex that sent the coldest weather ever recorded across much of the midwest and east Coast. I agree with Debbie that shipments should always go out early in the week to avoid sitting on a truck somewhere over a weekend, plus we also monitor weather and avoid sending out shipments when extreme hot or cold spells are anticipated.

This is also a great map to reference:

https://weather.com/maps/tendayforecast

As far as negotiating around the cold:

  1. If you use a fulfillment house that offers either climate-controlled zone skipping or has regional warehouse hubs, use them strategically.

  2. Actual holds are inevitable. Make sure you proactively communicate the possibility to your customers before purchase and continually communicate with them daily or weekly about the status of their shipment and why it may still be held.

I don’t really agree with taking a “hey, if it freezes, it’s not on us” approach, unless the customer absolutely insists. We have a responsibility as wineries to give customers great experiences and that extends through delivery. So assure your customers you will get them their wine safely, in a reasonable amount of time, and educate them about the risks of cold weather.

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Solid advice @EdFarmCollective. You could also try my approach - locate your winery in the Finger Lakes of NY where if it’s too cold to ship somewhere in the country, you can almost always see that right out your window.

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