For The Love Of Port

What do you think, should a retailer be held accountable for a corked bottle? Have you ever returned a corked bottle?

I know people who do this all the time, or at least whenever they have one. What are your thoughts?

I don't think you can blame the retailer - after all, the problem wasn't their fault. So unless the retailer can then also return the bottle to the distributor, and the distributor to the importer, and the importer to the producer (where the taint occurred)... I don't see the point in returning the bottle to the retailer.

There are plenty of other problems that might be their fault, though, and if I spent a lot of money on a bottle only to open it and discover it is badly oxidized because the cork is dried out, or that it's completely cooked because it's been stored in a window or hot warehouse, then yeah that bottle's going back to the retailer. They can then deal with their supplier if they feel that it wasn't their fault either.

The place I buy most of my wine (a restaurant with reasonable take-out prices) insists that I ask to have any corked bottles (however slightly corked) at the table replaced. The wine guy says, "We just return them to the distributor." They also have offered to take back any of the retail wines I have purchased there, even if I don't discover it for years. (Eight years later is my record.) I eat there often, try to be a nice guy, buy a lot of wine at retail (maybe 2000+ bottles over the years). I don't know if they extend this courtesy to everyone. I can pinpoint the exact date of purchase in most cases.

So... Should? I don't know. I do think it is a major service for a regular customer, and a strong selling point for the retailer when extended to a new customer. I've returned 6 retail bottles (I tend to drink lightly corked bottles if the wine itself is special) and maybe 1 bottle in 10 or 15 at the table. My wife is much more sensitive to corkedness than I am, and it really spoils the wine for her. If it is very lightly corked, I will sometimes recork it and take it home for my own consumption, ordering another bottle for us at the table.

I accept this an an occupational hazard. I have only ever raised the issue with a seller once but that was purchased directly from the producer and it was replaced (by two bottles) without question.

I think if I bought newly released VP and immediately found them to be faulty I would return them to the retailer but by the time they have spent a few years in the supply chain I find it difficult to blame the person who just happend to have them immediately before me.

Derek

From the view point of the producer, and I can't talk by others, we don't have many people complaining about corked bottles. Anyhow, we know that 2 or 3 out of 100 are corked.

oscarquevedo wrote:... we know that 2 or 3 out of 100 are corked.

It may be different with Port, but drinking a lot of regular wines, I would put it closer to 6-8 of 100. This includes very lightly corked wines, which I would ordinarily drink without complaint.

If you are buying retail from a B&M, they should take back corked bottles. I know the B&M’s I shop at do and I have returned corked bottles several times. One time I returned a ’78 Ferreira Vintage that I bought and stored for six months without even opening it. I had bought a second bottle for a Ferreira Vertical that sucked, so I assume the unopened bottle would suck too, so I brought it back. I explained to them what happened and they took back the unopened bottle.

If the bottle was opened and faulty, I will bring it back with the wine it so they can confirm I am not BSing them. I find that the wine salespersons are quite accommodating and just as curious as I am when finding such a bottle. Never has there been a disagreement whether the bottle was bad or not. I expect to be accommodated based on my loyalty to them. I am familiar face and should be treated as such.

Auctions, it’s different. The only returns have been on bottles that were not what was sold.

I don't think you can blame the retailer - after all, the problem wasn't their fault. So unless the retailer can then also return the bottle to the distributor, and the distributor to the importer, and the importer to the producer (where the taint occurred)... I don't see the point in returning the bottle to the retailer.

Glenn,

I do not see this as blame of the retailer at all. It is just the first line of being "satisfied" as a customer who has purchased defective merchandise and wants to return it. Some retailers are fine with that ... as long as within a specified time frame, accompanied by a receipt. Others have a return any bottle for any reason, policy. Still other retailers will not take back any defective bottle whatsoever.

That said, I was interested to learn if people would even bother to return a bottle. LIke Derek mentioned, I have a feeling that most people chalk it up to part of the wine buying experience. However, from reading wine message boards for years, I have often seen mention of people bringing corked bottles back to the retailer who then gets credit from the distributor and so on.

Yes, I think so. As a distributor I did replaced corked bottles (really few ones) to the retailers. And as a consumer I always ask retailers to do so. Some years ago I did stop to buy in one of the best shops in my city, because they didn't replace a corked bottle. I only have done it 2 times more, and they did replace it. One of them, it was an old wine, that I'm sure they assume the cost, and not the distributor. A retailer that don't replace it should notice his clients.