Customer reviews of Vignerons d’Exception

Hello, first of all thank you for your trust and for taking the time to give us your opinion. I hope you enjoy the wines we've just delivered. Just a small point about the high shipping costs of €20 inc. VAT (we only collect €16.67, the rest goes to the taxman): the carriers charge us much more than the €16.67 we charge for delivery. The problem is that many online retailers are prepared to lose money by delivering everything virtually free of charge (and thus passing off €20 as a "high" or even exorbitant delivery charge) just to achieve "volume", without having to worry about moving a truck for each small order (because when you pay almost nothing for delivery, you're more likely to order small quantities). Unfortunately, we don't have the means, let alone the will. Certainly for reasons of profitability, but also for environmental reasons: we feel we should charge "at least a little" for delivery (unfortunately, this is still too much for you, I understand and I'm sorry!). We're convinced that it's absurd for web giants to make a €20 delivery seem "expensive", when in fact it costs even more! In order to minimize the number of deliveries and maximize the number of groupage orders, we offer the option of keeping wines free of charge while waiting for a larger groupage order, and thus paying nothing at all for delivery (offered >400€). This way, everyone, including the planet, benefits: many customers no longer order 5 times 1 box (paying €20 each time) but rather 1 time 5 boxes (paying nothing for delivery /1 truck trip instead of 5). In short, I hope you understand why we charge €20 for delivery, and that you'll group your orders so you don't have to pay anything at all :-) Once again, thank you for your trust... and your understanding... and above all, happy tasting! Tristan Depauw, founder of Vignerons d'Exception

Dear Sir, first of all, thank you for taking the time to bring this information to our attention. Our Paris-area carrier obviously doesn't brag when it doesn't do its job properly. We apologize for his unacceptable behavior, and will immediately "put things right". In fact, this is a small company which is supposed to respect our requests for appointments, etc., since it's not a big computerized machine as it often is. They're even willing to go upstairs and down to the cellar, which is hardly ever the case with other delivery companies, especially for wine. It seems that one of the drivers got a bit carried away with the instructions (day + time!), and this will not go unchallenged. We apologize again, and should you be so kind as to place your trust in us again despite this pitiful experience, please be assured that we'll be particularly vigilant when it comes to delivery... We can only hope that the wines are at least to your taste... and that you enjoy them all!

Dear Sir, first of all thank you for your trust and your praise. We are only reading your comment now (February 20) as we were not "automatically" alerted by a number of stars below 4. I'm glad you liked what we had to offer, but we respond to all messages within the hour (except at weekends) - it's one of our trademarks, and one that our customers really appreciate! We looked everywhere, but there was no trace of an email from you, nor of a message in the "contact us" section of the site! So it's impossible to reply to an email we haven't received, and we're sorry you imagined we wouldn't reply because of a discount issue. We're particularly sensitive to this kind of question, and have a particularly accommodating policy, given how few discounts we offer during the year! We will contact you by private email immediately. Best regards, Tristan Depauw

Hello Sir, thank you for taking the time to write a review on our site, after 6 orders since 2017. This review was apparently triggered by a bad experience with a 2019 carignan that had a major defect. We're very sorry about this and will deal with the matter directly with you privately to avoid any further disappointment. We just hope that the other 23 wines ordered are not among the "bad surprises", and take advantage of this public message to specify that we are at your disposal all day long by phone and email with all our knowledge of each winemaker to help you order wines that suit you, and for example avoid wines from winemakers a little too "natural and without sulfites" which can - rarely but it is possible - present defects above 14 °C. In short, we hope to have the opportunity to discuss your expectations with you when you place your next order, should you pass on this "road trip" and continue to place your trust in us. Best regards, Tristan Depauw

Thank you for taking the time to rate us "nothing to complain about, 2*/5". We wish you all the best. Hopefully, in a few years, you will appreciate these wines and will not regret your purchase. We would like to take advantage of this public response to point out that we are available to our customers from 8:30 am to 7:30 pm by telephone and email to advise them according to their tastes and budgets. We taste all the wines we sell, so we can help our customers avoid buying "brands" that are not easy to find, but which are in demand by many wine-lovers who appreciate them and don't find them too expensive (all tastes are natural). We're even more than willing to suggest young winemakers with unbeatable value for money to those who want to discover them! If you don't want to be disappointed, please contact us before ordering, rather than randomly buying wines that others are snapping up and whose price/pleasure ratio you won't appreciate. Tristan Depauw

Dear Sir, we're sorry that our service provider, Schenker, has taken so long to deliver your fourth order in the Cantal region (the first three were delivered in less than a week, but not like UPS in two days, which costs much more than the €20 we charge for a delivery, which was offered to you because you ordered more than €400). In short, we apologize and promise not to let this happen again. We prefer to trust a carrier specialized in wine, but a little slower and "old-fashioned", who handles the boxes by hand (machines break a lot more) and stores them in adapted warehouses, rather than entrusting your wines to an express carrier who risks breaking the bottles with his impressive - and violent - automatons, without worrying about storage conditions between two trucks, etc. as long as it's delivered quickly (and at a good price). In short, we consider that the wines we sell, even if they arrive slowly, will be in perfect condition, and that's our priority, bearing in mind that they're generally not for immediate consumption... but to enjoy over several years! Having said that, you're absolutely right, the delay in your fourth order was totally unacceptable, and totally unusual, for which we apologize again. Enjoy the tasting, and we promise to insist on prompt delivery next time, if there is a next time :-) Thank you for your understanding, and we hope to have another chance to do better! Best regards, Tristan Depauw

Dear Sir, please accept our apologies, and we regret that you have waited for the publication of "verified reviews" to inform us of your disappointment. Please do not hesitate to contact us directly if you encounter any inconvenience. However, as you requested, we had shipped at the beginning of the week to avoid the wine spending the weekend in an unsuitable place (as our freight forwarder specializes in wine, the storage places for our cartons, between two trucks, are usually suitable). Nevertheless, you have noted our 2*/5 service: we delivered the original box from the estate! We're sorry that the carrier mistreated your boxes, and "almost stole them from you" (if that's what "fell off the truck" means) because the box was original and therefore poorly chosen by the winemaker (domaine de Terrebrune in Bandol or Juliette Joblot in Givry in this case). We're among those who prefer to avoid wastage, repackaging in polystyrene or cardboard and throwing away the original box. Damage is very rare, and we're sorry it's happened to you, but we don't agree with throwing out all the cartons and putting all the wines we sell back in beautiful new ones so they don't get damaged or stolen (would that really change the outcome of abuse and theft?). And what about the planet? Of course, when something does go wrong (statistics for 2021: 0.3% of deliveries), we cover all the costs of re-delivery, replacement in the event of breakage, and so on. We think this is sufficient, and we're sure you'll agree. In any case, should you place your trust in us again, we will take particular care to monitor the carrier closely to ensure that he respects your boxes and delivers them to you under normal conditions. Once again, we apologize for this inconvenience. Yours sincerely, Tristan Depauw

Dear Sir, Your disappointment with the Domaine d'Ouréa "tire bouchon" (€10) seems to have generated this comment about our site in general. With 26 wines purchased since 2019, and no reviews left (neither negative nor positive), we thought you were satisfied with our service and selections... it seems we don't "always measure up", and we're sorry to hear that. We're really keen to hear your opinions, whether positive or negative, as they enable us to move forward and improve. For example, we're going to re-taste the wine you didn't like. We also hope that your feedback will help us to improve our service to you, by telling us what you didn't like about the wine you tasted... Thanks again for your loyalty, we'll do everything we can to improve! Best regards, Tristan Depauw.

Thank you very much for your feedback, which has enabled us to get things moving again. As we've already told you privately, this happens very rarely, but in this case we were the victims of a combination of factors against us: first of all we blocked deliveries because of the very hot weather, which was specified in all the order confirmations, not always read. Hence the absence of any news about your order. Then, as the temperatures returned to normal, we "released" all pending orders... but yours was "forgotten" by human error in our cellars, which was inexcusable... especially as we then had to deal with an incredibly useless delivery driver (and his manager)... who didn't understand that it wasn't their delivery round that took precedence, but your hours of availability, and above all customer satisfaction before the delivery driver's !!!. Fortunately, after your call to us, things went back to normal and you were quickly delivered and received your wine before your medical appointment. In short, we apologize once again for all these setbacks, and there's no doubt that if you give us another chance, we'll pay particular attention to your order and its delivery. Enjoy tasting the wines of Clément and Florent Pinard, Vincent's sons, whose wines are harder and harder to find - we run out every year! Best regards,