Notice from Noval (USA) re: shipping "Buyers Op"

[Roy Hersh]

I heard officially today that the wines/Ports held by Vintus are ready to ship. Anyone who is still waiting for their shipment and has not received confirmation can get in contact with them to make sure shipment will be made when you are ready for it. One FTLOPer mentioned his concern about getting shipment in the middle of the week, so please clarify your wishes when speaking with them. Thanks!

[Moses Botbol]

Would be nice to have the Buyers Op available again now that the wine is ready to ship... Is that possible?

[Glenn E.]

I think that most of the Ports in the FTLOP offer were ready to ship right away... I think it was only the "Vintage Port Library" pack that was delayed as they waited for it to arrive from Pinhao.

[Andy Velebil]

And as it was summer, shipping wasn't a good idea until now.

[Glenn E.]

On a related subject, any word on when the Portal Ports might ship?

[Eric Menchen]

On a related subject, any word on when the Portal Ports might ship?

I received mine last Saturday, but that did not include any 2007s.

[Roy Hersh]

2007s are not yet in the USA if I am not mistaken.

[Glenn E.]

2007s are not yet in the USA if I am not mistaken.

That would explain it - I asked them to hold the rest of my order until the 2007s arrive.

They're in Portland, right? So at least those of us in the PNW be able to ship even in January. I don't think I'd want to ship cross country during the winter.

[Bryan H.]

Anyone else out there who did not get any of the Noval ports? Unlike Glenn, I did not receive any.

[Roy Hersh]

Bryan,

It is really simple, just get back in touch with the folks that you placed the order with and ask for them to ship and they will gladly oblige. Just don't take it for granted that the bottles will magically appear at your doorstep, if you don't bother to reach out to them.

[Glenn E.]

Anyone else out there who did not get any of the Noval ports? Unlike Glenn, I did not receive any.

I specifically asked them to ship part of my order early rather than waiting for the Vintage Port Libraries to arrive. If you ordered a VPL and didn't make a similar request then they probably assumed that you wanted to wait until your entire order was ready.

But like Roy said, just drop them an email and make arrangements. I've just done exactly that for my VPL order. Remember that they are in New York, so FedEx Ground might not be a good idea... it's COLD in them thar parts right now!

[Bryan H.]

Roy,

I have had at least three calls with them over the past few months, and a few emails. Always the response was, it is going to ship soon, with some explanation for why it had not yet... I have always kept the faith, as I have confidence in you, and others received theirs, but I have to say this process was not too impressive on the shipping end. On two occasions I called because I had occasions planned where I wanted to have some of the ports, only to have them say they were coming and not come.

I spoke to them again today and they say my order is going out on Monday. They do have my order correct, and they do have rational explanations as to why it did not go earlier. I just wish they would have said that instead of promising that they were about to go out on several occasions only to have it not happen.

For example, I have an early November email saying they are ready to ship in the third week of November. Again, nothing happened, and then I saw your post of Dec 2 (I think) saying they were finally ready to ship...

Don't get me wrong--I love the deal, and applaud the effort, and god willing I will have the ports soon (I think it was April when we ordered?) But it surely was not as simple as calling them, as I made that effort a number of times. And, I do believe that their reasons for the delay are plausible. Their communication was lacking, however.

[Roy Hersh]

I am sorry it did not go as smoothly as you had hoped Bryan. I am just here to put buyer and seller together, once I've negotiated the deal and promoted it, my duty is over. However, for the one person who actually got in touch with me about this topic, by email ... I made sure that their order was shipping and got in touch with Noval on their behalf. Had I heard from you by email or PM when you had your troubles, I would have gladly interceded as well. But as that was not the case, all I can say is that on behalf of Noval, I am sorry this wasn't smoother for you.

[Bryan H.]

Roy--to be sure, you have no responsibility in this, and if that came through from my post, it was not intended. I was only trying to note that it was not for lack of some effort on my part to figure out when the port would arrive.

Also, I never lost faith or had any concern that it would not get here. If I had, I would have reached out to you for some assistance. It was no more than less than ideal communication, and my friends and I have enjoyed other bottles in the meantime.

The good news is the port arrived today and we can close this out. No need to . I'm looking forward to busting in to the couple of bottles of the 64 and 68 Noval colheitas when my port drinking friends are with us for the New Year.

Again, the buying ops are great and I realize take effort on your part to organize. I'm anxiously awaiting the next one.

[Glenn E.]

The last of my bottles arrived today in perfect condition. The FedEx guy wanted to know when the party was, as he also delivered the case of 1985 Churchill a couple of days ago.

I like the little wooden case that the VPL comes in. It's not quite up to the level of a Vesuvio footlocker, but significantly nicer than a normal OWC.