Customer reviews of Vignerons d’Exception

Thank you, Sir, for your comment. We work every day to try to make delivery smoother, but indeed it is sometimes (thankfully quite rarely) difficult to deliver expensive and fragile fine wines directly to our clients when they are not often at home. Unfortunately, the pickup point is often limited to a few bottles, does not respect the wine at all, and our clients would hold it against us in case of defects, even if they themselves left their wine for a week in an overheated tobacco shop before picking it up. Not to mention the packages that come back to us (at our expense) because clients simply did not go to pick them up. We do not (yet) have the means to bear the additional costs incurred by this solution, which is poorly suited to the quality of the wines we sell, and we are sorry about that. However, we are trying to improve the communication from carriers (SMS, calls, choice of delivery days) and are working hard to improve their service in 2026. We hope it will be well received. Thank you again for your trust and sincerity. Tristan Depauw.

Dear Sir, it is incredible that the carrier has absolutely no right to do this, and not having a signed delivery note, they are obviously responsible in case of theft. You are certainly not at any risk and we would replace any stolen wine. We are sorry for this behavior which we will immediately investigate further. Please do not hesitate to inform us immediately when this kind of thing happens, we know how to be reactive and correct what needs to be corrected if necessary! Thank you again for your trust and enjoy your tasting, Tristan Depauw

Hello Sir, and thank you for your confidence. This is not a joke, it's a UPS Portugal screw-up. Please accept our deepest apologies. We don't work in France or anywhere else, and refuse to accept any parcel relays or other insecure solutions for top-quality wines. Unfortunately, you live in Portugal and the UPS driver in charge of your city of Alcochete has deliberately decided, without our authorization, to leave your wine in one of his parcel relays after trying in vain to deliver it to you. This is what they admit, even though we never asked them to do anything of the sort. We will no longer ship with UPS in Portugal (in other countries it works perfectly), so let's hope the new provider will respect our requests... And once again, please accept our deepest apologies. Tristan Depauw

Dear Sir, thank you for taking the time to let us know about your online disappointment and your satisfaction with the wines you chose. We do of course accept credit cards, and are sorry that your bank has refused your payment on several occasions. The reason they have sent us is "authentication failure", so it seems that something is wrong with the application on your phone that authenticates you according to the "3D Secure" standards applied by banks. If you'd like to pay by credit card in the future, please don't hesitate to contact us, and we'll certainly be able to rectify the technical problem you've encountered together! Thank you again for your confidence, Tristan Depauw

Hello Sir, and thank you for taking the time to give us feedback. We're sorry about the exceptionally long time it took our DB Schenker carrier to deliver to you. It's true that it's difficult to deliver perfectly in the south of France (in this case the Herault, but also sometimes the Bouches du Rhône), but in this case we've broken records and we apologize. When questioned, the carrier couldn't even explain why... Our average delivery time in France is 4 to 5 working days, and more like 2 in Paris... but these are average times. In the event of a new delivery (in other words, if you were to renew your confidence in us), we would insist on prompt delivery and would monitor this closely. As far as packaging is concerned, we use the winemakers' original cartons. They are the ones who choose their cartons, wooden crates, etc. and as a matter of principle, we don't throw away the winegrowers' brand-new cartons to repackage the bottles in new, sturdier packaging, sometimes with polystyrene. Of course, in the event of the slightest problem (and indicated on the delivery note at the time of delivery), as the wines are insured, they are replaced or reimbursed. But this is very rare, as the wines are handled by a carrier deliberately chosen for its specialization in "old-fashioned" wine delivery, so while online tracking is impossible, the cartons are handled with care at every stage, and not just when they're delivered to your door. To reassure you, we do have a computerized tracking system, and we are happy to inform our customers by telephone of the progress of their delivery, just as we advise them on their choices... Again, the old-fashioned way :-). But it's true that we don't control everything - the proof is in the time it takes to deliver... but we still think, as is very rare (once again, apologies, it was you), that it's preferable to go through industrialized behemoths who have automated online tracking, but with whom it's impossible to have the slightest human contact in the event of a grain of sand in the wheels and who, incidentally, (mis)handle the wine on conveyor belts, which can let them "fall" from quite a height (the UPS standard is 2 meters, hence the fact that they impose specific packaging). A vast debate... which is obviously not over, and delivery and packaging are an ongoing concern, the result of "least bad" trade-offs more than anything else... Tristan Depauw, President and Founder of Vignerons d'Exception, who, after 30 years of home delivery, still hasn't found the ideal service provider!

Dear Sir, first of all, thank you for taking the time to give your opinion on the site and on the wines you bought, both of which you described as "average". The first, Stéphane Ogier's "Le Temps est Venu", €11, here's my comment: "Stéphane Ogier's other "little" Côtes du Rhône, mostly Grenache for a change from the illustrious "Ogier Syrah". The quality-price ratio becomes indecent, but don't expect a "little" light Côtes du Rhône... It's really a superb southern Rhône that can be kept for 5 years". I still think that this wine, a great winemaker's classic that has been adopted by many customers who buy it - and repurchase it vintage after vintage - by the dozen, is excellent value for money, especially when left to age a little in the cellar. I'm sorry if you don't agree and find it "average"... but personally, I find it far superior to most of the Grenache-majority Côtes du Rhônes I've tasted throughout the year. This is also true of Stéphane Ogier's other cuvée "La Rosine" (€22), which you also found "average" (and which I invite you to taste again in a few months or years' time - you'll be pleasantly surprised, I hope). Our comments: "Rosine made the initial reputation of Domaine Stéphane Ogier. These old, unappointed Syrahs, adjacent to his Côte-Rôtie plots (and aged for 1 year in the same barrels), have helped him a great deal! Please note, this is not a "petit vin", it's a wine that can be kept for 5 years". I've been tasting thousands of wines every year for the past thirty years, and only select the ones I like with Marion and Edouard, my two tasting partners. Naturally, I'm enthusiastic about all the wines I sell because I've selected them because I particularly like them. Most of the time, I try to avoid publishing my own comments and prefer to quote reputable guides, but unfortunately the latter don't always publish comments on the "small vintages" and concentrate on the big ones when they visit a great winemaker like Stéphane Ogier. Admittedly, tasting is a very personal exercise, but given this winemaker's success around the world, I dare to hope that I'm not the only one who appreciates his wines. I sincerely hope you'll give these wines a second chance in the future... and that you'll enjoy them as much as we do. Please don't hesitate to ask us for advice if you want to find wines better suited to your tastes. We spend a lot of time on the phone with our customers, guiding them towards wines that correspond to what they're looking for. Thank you again for your feedback, which will undoubtedly enable me to temper my enthusiasm for wines that are simply good. Tristan Depauw, founder of Vignerons d'Exception.