Customer reviews of Vignerons d’Exception

Dear Sir, I'm sorry that one of the few recipients of Chateau Chalon 2010 from Domaine Macle is not satisfied, and please accept our apologies. A few explanations: we're sorry that the carrier behaved badly, and would have liked to solve your problem if you had let us know. Don't hesitate next time! Schenker specializes in wine, and in 25 years of home deliveries, it's the carrier we've had the fewest problems with, by far. We're launching an immediate investigation to find out what went wrong with the carrier, and we'll do everything we can to make sure it doesn't happen again. After all, things can go wrong, especially in the summer, when unmotivated temps sometimes do a poor job of looking after our customers. As far as packaging is concerned, most of our customers appreciate receiving the estate's original packaging, and all our logistics and traceability are based on this principle. Despite our comments, the winery continues to use low-strength cardboard, perhaps on the assumption that clavelins are strong... and the specific shape of the clavelin prevents us from repackaging them in stronger neutral cardboard. We'll pass on your comment to the winery in the hope that they'll invest a little more in their boxes... Once again, our apologies for this delivery, which fell far short of our quality standards, and we hope that you will renew your trust in us and check that this was just an isolated malfunction. Best regards, Tristan Depauw

Dear Sir, First of all, thank you for your comments which, even if negative, help us to progress. You registered on our site in 2014, and we never convinced you with our catalogs and our ever more complete range. A few weeks ago, you ordered for the first time and took advantage of an unprecedented promotion: progressive quantity discounts on two non-rare wines: the Cuilleron syrah at -21% (€7.90 instead of €10, per 4 cartons) and the domaine du mortier "fût de chêne" viré clessé at -25% (at €11.25 instead of €15, per 5 cartons).
No, the fact that we paid less was not due to "tank bottlings", it was simply a question of non-rare wines, with recurrent success, which allow us once a year to give our customers very good deals on everyday wines, our regular customers being quite often frustrated by the too limited quantities of our winemakers' superior cuvées. We're sorry you didn't like Yves Cuilleron's Syrah. You rated it 1*/5 and commented "mediocre". On the other hand, you didn't bother to rate the Viré Clessé (which you consider "satisfactory" in this review of our site in general). Admittedly, this Syrah is not the wine of the century, but many of our customers are "afficionados" of it and enjoy it on a daily basis, precisely for its lightness and simplicity, without expecting too much complexity. We're sorry to say you won't be one of them. We sell several thousand bottles of this cuvée every year, and have never had any negative feedback, only the occasional disappointment from customers who were used to the estate's superior cuvées, we admit. Having said that, tastes and colors are not up for discussion, and you can of course, like all our customers who don't like a wine, return it to us (71 rue mermet, 69160 tassin) and we'll refund you for the wines received as soon as we receive them. Regarding the condition of the boxes when they arrived at your home in Quiberon three days after they left our Burgundy cellars (they left the day after we received your check in the mail), we're sorry that they weren't visually correct. We don't understand your remark: "no packaging". We only sell whole cartons purchased directly from the estates, and simply deliver these cartons. In fact, some winegrowers use flimsy cartons, and when we suggest they use sturdier ones, they usually point out that it's expensive and that as long as the bottle isn't damaged, that's the main thing... and sometimes add that they reserve the sturdier cartons (and sometimes wooden crates) for the "superior" vintages of their production. Of course, the cartons are always a little "shaken up" during transport, whether to France or the other side of the world, and everyone knows that it's enough to wait two or three days for the wines to rest for the quality of the bottles to be irreproachable.
Once again, please accept our apologies for having failed to satisfy you, both in terms of the quality of the Syrah (we have of course passed on your comment to the winemaker, who is very open to compliments but also to criticism), and the condition of the boxes when they arrived. Yours sincerely, Tristan Depauw

Dear Sir, thank you for your compliments... As for your "but", you will understand that, as this site presents the wines of highly respected winemakers, wines that I have all personally tasted and selected, it is obvious that I liked them and therefore that my Thursday newsletter, which I sign and assume responsibility for, advantageously presents these wines, with my comments that you describe as "self-indulgent". The submerged part of the iceberg is all the wines tasted and not selected, and therefore not commented on negatively! Finally, on our site, I very rarely include my own comments, and deliberately choose comments from recognized critics, mainly the two major French wine guides and Wide Advocate magazine, to make the information as objective as possible. Thank you for your understanding! Yours truly, Tristan Depauw

Dear Customer, After 7 orders delivered without a hitch, we have indeed missed the delivery of the 8th. Unfortunately, this box of Witches was one you were planning to give to your son-in-law for Christmas, and we're very sorry we didn't deliver it on time. In fact, it was the only Christmas delivery we didn't honor, and we apologize again... When we took your order over the phone, our mistake was to give the carrier your home phone number, not your cell phone number. This was in fact included in the delivery address given in our order confirmation email, in which we suggest our customers validate this address and alert us if any details are missing... The delivery driver tried to deliver to you three times during the week preceding the Christmas weekend (Tuesday, Thursday and Friday), and left three messages on your landline answering machine, which you did not follow up. We should have known that you weren't listening to your messages, and should have passed on your mobile number... What a pity that you didn't alert us until the Saturday of the Christmas weekend to tell us that the delivery hadn't arrived, and that you hadn't received a call from the carrier since our dispatch notice received 10 days earlier! It was only then that we realized that you were only listening to your cell phone messages, which we made the mistake of not communicating to the carrier. We could have done something the day before, but not on Christmas weekend... we couldn't do anything. The box, which was a gift, was therefore delivered on the following Wednesday directly to the person you wished to give it to, and we deleted the landline number from your address so that there would be no more mistakes or messages left in the void... Once again, please accept our apologies, we will not make the same mistake again! Sincerely, Tristan Depauw

Hello Sir, and thank you for your encouragement. Instead of using our website, telephone or email, you used our "paper" order form, and your order took 15 days to arrive in our letterbox... it's a shame that the slowness of La Poste earned us only 3*/5 in your eyes, a mark we're not used to! Fortunately, the wines we wanted were still in stock... and you phoned us. Thank you again for your confidence, Tristan Depauw.

Dear Sir, first of all, thank you for your trust and for your constructive comment. I hope at least that you were satisfied with the wines, as we have chosen to deliver by "courier" rather than "express". I'll try to explain the reasons for this choice in all sincerity. Courier service is the only way to respect the original packaging, ensuring direct provenance from the estates, and also respecting the stamped wooden crates that our customers are so fond of. This carrier - Schenker - isn't "express", nor is it perfect, but it's the only one specialized in wine on the one hand, and which on the other hand doesn't impose costly repackaging in specific packaging adapted to mechanization and, what's more, very little respect for the environment. Fortunately, this carrier, which has specialized in wine for decades, is also the best equipped in terms of air-conditioned or double-insulated and ventilated warehouses, where the wines spend most of their time during the week of delivery (your 1st order was delivered in two days in the Paris region, as soon as we received your payment cheque, but your second order for the Lot department, not very direct from Burgundy, took a week). Not all carriers have the same storage conditions adapted to wine... and some sometimes leave the wines in a non-air-conditioned "relais colis" for you to collect them if the recipient is absent, without asking your opinion... not great either for sulphur-free wines.
Having said that, it's true that delivery is a real concern for all wine sellers, and that the ideal solution doesn't exist... or else it's too expensive, and no customer would agree to pay the price, which you already find too high: €16.6 ex VAT, or €20 incl. VAT, is what it actually costs to deliver a case of 6 bottles in France. It costs much more when we deliver several cartons. But we only charge this flat rate of €20, whatever the quantity ordered, and offer it for orders of €400 or more. That's why our customers sometimes get together several people to reach the "franco" rate. You're right, we may seem expensive, and other sites charge less, but lose money on this service. We can't afford this luxury if we want to keep our prices competitive and, above all, keep doing what we do for the long term. At least, to make these invoicing conditions clear, we "show our colors" on the home page of our site and in all our Thursday newsletters...
On the subject of "natural" wines, you're absolutely right there too: unsulphured wines run a high risk of not being able to withstand temperatures >14°C, which is why we don't offer them, apart from one exception out of our 750 references: JC Lapalu's "tentation" cuvée, which I adore... (He's such a master of winemaking that there's virtually no risk, and we've never had a problem). Well-made, "low-sulphite" wines are "low-sulphite" precisely so that they can be transported at normal temperatures and not suffer any deviations in the event of less-than-optimal storage conditions. In fact, most of our cuvées have very little sulfur, but our very elitist selection at least has this merit: all the wines are well made and present little risk of deviations, thanks to the great mastery of their makers from vine to bottle. Of course, there's always a risk, like cork taint... and many other lesser-known risks, too. In short, we do our best... and try as far as possible to deliver wines without the slightest shock. We keep deliveries to a minimum in hot weather, and so on. But it's true, it's not easy! In any case, I want you to know that we do everything we can to deliver faster when our customers ask us to, and to satisfy them whatever the request. I'm sure we'll manage to lower our delivery costs and improve our lead times over time... Thank you again for your trust and understanding, and I hope to see you soon! Tristan Depauw, founder.

Dear Sir, thank you for your comment. We are contacting the winemaker to find out if he has had the same problem with the "Effusion" 2013 vintage (when we tasted this wine, it was not oxidized), and will get back to you by email with more precise answers. Tristan Depauw.

We are grateful for your feedback, which will enable us to make further progress. You have received unpacked bottles, and you understand that it is not in our interest to ship the bottles in this way, as we bear all the costs of any broken bottles and the new delivery to replace them. You are right, this is totally unprofessional, and we apologize to you. You're right, it's totally unprofessional, and we apologize profusely. We're very sorry about this malfunction, which can have two explanations: 1. either it's due to an order picker who didn't respect our very strict cardboard packing methods: double layer of recycled cardboard under and on top of each layer of bottles. Unfortunately, this was not the case for you. This is a first, and we hope a last too. We're currently investigating how a packer could have "forgotten" the dividers... and whether other customers have fallen victim to such an aberration, which doesn't seem to be the case at the moment. 2.Another hypothesis would be that the initial "vignerons d'Exception" white cardboard box was torn by the local delivery agency, and that this agency used any cardboard box to repackage your bottles in any way and deliver them to you... Hoping sincerely that you will accept our apologies and understand that this is not a deliberate move. Yours sincerely The Vignerons d'Exception team.

Thank you for your comment. It's true that the delivery notice specifies that you can pick up your parcel, but it also gives the telephone number of our carrier, who is obliged, on a simple call, to redeliver your parcel. All you have to do is contact him to arrange a new delivery, which was the case for you after making an appointment. Yours sincerely The Vignerons d'Exception team.

Thank you for your comment. We have a tailor-made service for corporate gifts, which of course allows us to enclose a card with your parcel, even if it's just one gift. Just contact us. Best regards. The Vignerons d'Exception team.