When oh When to Drink the dusty bottles in my wine rack? Wineries' responses and response times. Summary: somewhat disappointing response times!

What’s an ignorant wine drinker to do? I tried using some of the internet’s vintage guides to answer my questions as I dusted off my wine rack, but those guides simply weren’t satisfactory. Either that, or I fear that I’d waited too long to open those bottles. So I resorted to the winery websites for information, and it’s a good thing I wasn’t needing decision-support for a dinner party later that day… because ONLY ONE winery of the three I reached was “on top” of the customer service question.

Now, I know that this isn’t exactly a representative sampling and that the results of this survey are not statistically significant at the 98% percentile of certainty, but still ... such customer service, and rapidly, is a function to which the wine industry needs to be attuned.


HATS OFF TO TOBIN JAMES!

Original question: sent at 9 a.m. on a Monday morning to info@tobinjames.com:
SUBJECT: When to drink your 2000 syrah silver reserve
MESSAGE: I've had this bottle for a while and wondring how much longer I should
cellar it, or if I should drink it now. Thanks for your help!

RESPONSE TIME: 90 MINUTES
Thank you for your email. The 2000 Silver Syrah is a fabulous wine. I would
recommend drinking it. The 2000 Syrah should be drinking very nice now and
it will definitely hold for a few more years. I would love to hear how it
tastes.
P.S. If you decide to hold the bottle for a bit longer be sure it is
cellared properly.

Cheers,
Monica Martin, Manager
Tobin James Cellars
8950 Union Road
Paso Robles CA 93446


AND THEN, IN ADDITION TO A PROMPT RESPONSE, Tobin James provided even more superior customer service…
I wrote: Thank you for your speedy reply, and the responsible way in which you mentioned the need for proper cellaring. Do you have a resource that will help me understand what "proper cellaring" means for the everyday winedrinker who has less than 4 cases on hand? Thanks again!

Monica promptly replied: Barbara, The term proper cellaring is just keeping the bottle in a cool constant temp.

~~~~ a close second ~~~~~ Grgich Hills ! ~~~~~~~~~~~~

Original question: sent on Mon, Sep 29, 2008 at 8:50 AM to info@grgich.com
SUBJECT: question about your Napa Valley Chardonnay 2001 -- drink now or hold?
MESSAGE: I've had this bottle for a while now and wondering how much longer I should cellar it, or if it should be consumed now. Thanks for your help!

RESPONSE TIME: 23 hours
Hi Barbara,
Last year we opened some Chardonnay going back to the 1980's and most all of them were still excellent. That is kind of a long way of saying that you could drink it now and it would be wonderful or you could hold it for a couple of more years and it would still be good..

Cheers,
Bob During
Grgich Hills Estate
707.963.2784


~~oh my oh my~~~ya gotta do better than this, Frank Family! ~~~

Original question: sent on Monday, September 29, 2008 8:48 AM to info@frankfamilyvineyards.com
SUBJECT: question about your cab sauv Napa Valley from 1998
MESSAGE: I've had this bottle for a while now, and wondering if I should continue to cellar it, or should drink it now. Thanks for your help.

RESPONSE TIME: 4 days, 2.5 hours
Barbara,
You should drink it now. 98 was a year that should have been consumed a couple of Years back, hope it is okay. Do not decant, as this will age it even more…which you don’t want to do.
Sincerely, Rick

~~~~~~

Regardless, thanks to all the wineries for helping me along the path to more understanding of wines and their lifelines ... I appreciate it.