The Old & Rare Wine Company Shipping Policy

Age Requirement

All wines are sold in California and title passes to the buyer in California. In California, law prohibits the purchase of alcohol by persons under the age of 21. Hence, you must be at least 21 years of age to purchase wine from The Old & Rare Wine Company. By placing an order with The Old & Rare Wine Company, you represent that you are at least 21 years of age. Delivery requires an adult signature (21 or older). If no adult is present at time of delivery, the package will not be left. Therefore, business addresses are highly recommended. We will not ship wine to a PO Box or APO address

Legal Disclaimer

You assume and take title to your wines in California upon purchase. You are responsible for the shipment of all orders you place with The Old & Rare Wine Company. By placing an order, you authorize The Old & Rare Wine Company to act on your behalf to engage a common carrier to deliver your order where you want it delivered. The Old & Rare Wine Company acts only as your agent for the shipping/delivering of your wine. We make no representation to the legal rights of anyone to ship or import any wines into any state. You are solely responsible for the shipment of wine and other goods purchased and for determining the legality and the tax/duty consequences of having the wine shipped to you. Once wine has left our storage facility, the buyer is solely responsible for any loss or damage.

Restricted States

The shipment of wine into a state is regulated by recipient state. Currently a number of states prohibit or limit the shipment of wine from California. View Restricted States. Therefore, we cannot ship directly to you in these states. However, under certain conditions we may be able to ship to licensed retailers of wine in these states. If you have a relationship with a local retailer in your state, please contact us to determine if we can ship to your retailer.

Billing Information

All items are subject to availability. Orders placed on this website are not final. Your credit card is not charged automatically, although the amount is approved by your credit card company. Orders placed with us are received in the form of a request and must be confirmed before they can be processed. Upon receipt of your request we will verify that we have the wine in the quantity you requested. If there is any problem with your order, we will notify you (usually within 48 business hours). Otherwise, we will process your order, including the method of shipment/delivery and insurance charges, and (if applicable) tax. All orders must be paid in full prior to shipment. Payments can be made by wire transfer, certified check, or by domestic credit card. Personal checks may also be accepted from qualified customers. International payments require a wire transfer.

Please note that all credit cards are verified. You must provide a billing address that corresponds to the credit card you are using. If the billing address does not match the credit card you will be informed and the order will not be processed. If you encounter any problems in placing an order though the shopping cart, please call or email us for assistance.

Shipping Costs

Prices of our wines do not include shipping charges (or sales tax if you are accepting delivery in California), which vary depending on destination, number of bottles ordered and choice of delivery options. Shipping costs are automatically calculated at the time your order is placed. If you would like to know the shipping cost to a particular area please select your items and enter your zip code in the shopping cart.

Our shipping containers hold 1, 2, 3, 6, or 12 bottles of most wines (some larger bottles require magnum shippers). We recommend you keep this in mind when ordering as an odd number (7, for instance) will be shipped in the bigger box, increasing the shipping charges per bottle. We also carry large format and half bottle shippers. In an effort to help the environment, we reserve the right to recycle like-new shippers for ground shipments that will be received within 2 days (i.e., California and neighboring states).

Carrier and Delivery Times

We ship Ground, 3-Day Air, 2-Day Air and Next Day Air (Standard and Priority) via FedEx:

Ground Service - approximately one (1) to six (5) business days in transit
3-Day Air - three (3) business days in transit
2-Day Air - two (2) business days in transit
Next-Day Air - one (1) business day in transit (Priority assures morning delivery)

In calculating transit times, shipping companies do not count the day the item is picked up. Generally, all orders will be confirmed via e-mail and processed within two (2) business days. We will contact you by the end of the next business day if there are any problems with your order. We will notify you by email of any unexpected delays in processing and/or shipping your order. During times of bad weather, we recommend using 2nd Day or Next Day shipping to avoid spoilage. Orders to Alaska or Hawaii must be shipped 2nd Day Air.

Orders (unless otherwise specified) are generally shipped on Monday to insure that the shipments do not spend the weekend in transit. You will receive an email notifying you that your wines have been shipped and providing you with the tracking number for your shipment.

We highly recommend shipping to a business address where someone will be present to receive shipments during business hours. If the shipment is returned to us for an improper or incomplete address we will charge you again for re-shipment. So please make sure the address is complete including business name, department or mail stop, if any, and suite number if going to a business complex.

We do ship internationally. We offer very good rates to Asia. Please contact us concerning International Shipments (sales@oldandrarewineco.com).

Weather and Limited Weather Holds

It is important to understand that wine is perishable and very sensitive to temperature. This should be taken into consideration especially while wine is in transit. We recommend that you take the weather between Los Angeles and you into consideration in selecting the appropriate shipping method for your purchases. Transporting wine in extreme weather conditions, even by overnight service, may seriously damage it. During periods of extreme weather, The Old & Rare Wine Company strongly advises against the transport of wines by any means. During these times we are pleased to provide you with free, short-term (i.e., Summer) storage until better weather conditions prevail (Limited Weather Hold). Once you are ready to ship, please give us at least 2 business days notice and provide us with the shipping address and the type of shipping you want us to use for your wines (you will be billed for your shipping at that time). Please keep in mind that we are not in the wine storage business (yet) and wine initially held for weather problems for more than 5 months or after better weather will thereafter accrue storage charges at a rate of $2.00 per case, per month (one case minimum). If you need wine storage, we can acquire that for you or provide you with contact information for a number of wine storage facilities in the Los Angeles area. If shipment is requested during periods of extreme weather, the buyer exempts The Old & Rare Wine Company from any liability for any damage to the wines during shipment. Please remember these are your wines and you determine the shipping method and timing.

Insurance Requirements

Because all wine purchased from The Old & Rare Wine Company is sold in California and title passes to you (the buyer) in California, you are responsible for the shipment of your wine, including the procurement of insurance. Insurance for breakage and other damage during shipping (other than weather related damage) is including in your shipping costs at the time of purchase. FedEx insures the first $100 of value. Any value over the first $100 is $0.60 per $100 of insured value. Please note, weather damage is NOT covered by this or any other insurance.

In The Event of a Damaged Shipment

The Old & Rare Wine Company will refund insured purchases only for the breakage of wine while in transit. The Old & Rare Wine Company will not refund shipments for any other types of damages, such as, but not limited to, the defacing of labels, the failure or damage to corks and capsules, spoilage, and all other forms of damage. If you receive wine that has been broken during shipping, do not contact FedEx, they will not issue refunds, please contact The Old & Rare Wine Company directly within 24 hours of receiving the parcel. Note that weather damage is NOT covered by this insurance and we will not be responsible nor will we replace bottles damaged by the weather. Again, the ultimate shipping method and timing is yours.

Delivery Attempt

Whenever possible, we encourage you to use a commercial business address to assure the fastest delivery time. It is your responsibility to provide an address for delivery where an adult will be present at the time of delivery. If an adult is not available to receive the package, a subsequent attempt to deliver will be made. If subsequent attempts are unsuccessful, your order will be returned to The Old & Rare Wine Company. You will incur the cost of re-shipping the order or re-stocking charges if the order is subsequently cancelled.

Shipping Within the Southern California Area

In most cases you will find the best method for local delivery will be by FedEx ground. However, for larger quantities and during hot weather local delivery (using refrigerated trucks) may be more cost effective. Besides offering delivery service for the west Los Angeles area ($10 per case), The Old & Rare Wine Company also can provide local delivery service (via a third party) to other locations within the Los Angeles county (as well as Orange, Ventura and San Diego counties). Rates for local deliveries to locations other than west LA vary, so please contact us for a fast quote.

If you request local delivery of your wines, a date and time will be arranged. One delivery attempt will be made at the arranged date and time. If your plans change, please give us one business days notice. If a delivery is attempted and fails due to no fault of the delivery person, charges will apply to subsequent deliveries of the same wines.

Pick-ups

We are not open to the public but pick-ups are welcome at our business office (1518 Harvard St., Santa Monica). Pick ups are strictly by appointment only and at least 2 business days after the order is placed. Please, six (6) bottle minimums on pick-up orders. Only customers or their agents are allowed to pick-up orders. Pick-up orders must be claimed within 10 business days of the wine's availability. Contact us by email (sales@oldandrarewineco.com) or phone (310.829.5390) to arrange a pick-up date and time or for more information.

Undrinkable and "Corked Wines" No Refunds

Because The Old & Rare Wine Company did not produce or bottle any of the wines we sell, and due to the fact that the character of wine changes with age, we cannot guarantee the personal "drinkability" of every bottle we sell. It is the industry standard for shops such as ours, and the policy of The Old & Rare Wine Company, that older wines are purchased "as is" and at the buyer's risk as to the drinkability of the wine.

This policy includes "corked" wines (those tainted with TCA and smell of wet cardboard). This wine fault occurred during the maturing/bottling of the wine at the winery and is completely out of the control of The Old & Rare Wine Company. Whether the wine is from us or not, please contact the winery if you encounter a "corked" wine. We do.

We do not issue refunds on wines that are deemed undrinkable or "corked."

Cancellations and Returns

All wine sales are final. Please review the email you receive confirming your order carefully to make sure you ordered the correct wine. We are not responsible for any incorrect orders placed by the customer.

Any cancellation of any order (including pre-arrivals) must be done within 10 days of placing the order and prior to the shipment of the order. All cancellations are subject to a 10% restocking fee and shipping both ways, unless there was an error on our behalf. The restocking fee is not a penalty but compensates us for our loss. When we charge your card your order is reserved for you. Your credit card company charges us when we charge your card and when we subsequently credit your card for a cancellation. Therefore, we will strictly enforce the collection of the restocking fee if your card has been charged. If we have not charged your credit card, you may cancel your order without being subject to the restocking fee.

Any return of unopened and undamaged wine that was incorrectly sent to you must be done within 10 days of your receipt of the wine. You must include a copy of the original receipt in the package and please email or call to inform us that you are returning the shipment. We will only issue an exchange/refund on returned products that were incorrectly shipped to you (i.e., wrong wine or vintage). We will not accept returns of wine that have been opened, harmed during transportation or harmed due to extreme weather conditions.

In rare circumstances we may, in our sole discretion, accept the return of unopened and undamaged wine that was correctly sent to you. Please call us prior to returning the wines as such circumstances are determined on a case-by-case basis. If we do accept a return the customer is responsible for a 10% restocking fee and the shipping costs both ways.

Pre-arrival Sales

We offer some wines on a pre-arrival basis and price them at a discount while they are in transit. These wines are marked by the purple clock icon and are a separate category on the home page. These are wines that we have purchased but have not yet received. We generally receive pre-arrivals in approximately 1-6 months from listing them on the website. By ordering wines on a pre-arrival basis you can lock-in the wine (most wines are in quantities of one or two bottles) at a lower price. Prices will go up on these items once we receive them in our warehouse, if there are any left. There are no minimum orders for pre-arrivals because the quantities are so limited. We will notify you by email when your wines arrive and ask you to choose a shipping method at that time. We will bill you separately for shipping when the wines arrive and you make your shipping choice. Please note that storage charges will be accessed for wines that are not shipped within 10 days of notification (unless held for weather).

Original Wooden Containers

Occasionally, we have wines in their original wooden containers (typically, large formats). When wooden case containers are available, we ask that you buy at least half of the bottles when you request the container. We will endeavor to mention the availability of original containers in the description of the item. You will be notified after your order if there is an original wooden container for your wine. At that time you can decide if you want the container. We are happy to send them to you along with your wine. However, these containers must be shipped separately (for a small fee), because they will not safely transport your wine (unless you opt for local delivery).

Pricing and Availability

All listed prices do not include shipping/delivery charges. All listed prices do not include sales tax, if you live in California. Prices, ratings/reviews and availability of wines are subject to change without notice. Although it rarely happens, we do make mistakes in pricing so we reserve the right to correct pricing errors. The Old & Rare Wine Company cannot guarantee the availability of all items on our website. Occasionally we run out of an item before we can reflect that on the website. In the event that we do run out of an item you ordered, we will promptly contact you via email or telephone. At that time you can cancel your order or substitute another product.

Questions?

Please contact us prior to placing an order if you have any questions regarding our shipping policies.