Following my post about the 2008 vintage of this wine, I ordered a case of 12 from Waitrose Wine Direct whose website indicated they had it back in stock. However despite advertising it as 2008, and all the packaging materials, invoice, etc also indicating this, I instead received 12 bottles of the 2009.First of all, any self-respecting wine merchant should realize that vintages are important, especially to people who spend more than £10 a bottle. I fully understand rolling over to the new vintage of a wine when the previous one is exhausted, but it certainly should be advertised as such. If I was ordering plonk, I wouldn't care. But this isn't plonk. Also, the 2008 vintage of this wine won a blind tasting competition, while the 2009 was possibly subjected to drought, bushfires and smoke-taint.
Waitrose Wine Direct's returns policy says that only full cases can be returned, so I decided to buy a bottle of the 2009 in the shop. If I liked it, I would keep the case of 12. If not, I'd send it back. It turns out I didn't like it. I felt it had a sour taste and it was possibly my imagination, but I thought I could detect a peaty, smoky flavour to it. It could have been the oak and not smoke-taint though. Either way, it's going back.
Pinot Noir 2009
Yarra Valley, Victoria, Australia
Waitrose
£12
2.5/5
Posts
Hello Tim,
ReplyDeleteVery sorry to hear that you didn’t like the 2009 and my sincere apologies for the misprint on the website - this has now been corrected to reflect the new vintage. We always endeavour to have the correct and most up-to-date information on our website but sometimes things slip through the net, for which I’m very sorry. I’ve forwarded your complaint to our customer service team, who will be in touch with you shortly.
Kind regards,
Linda Bexell
Web editor
Waitrose Wine Direct
That's nice to see....a good service...
ReplyDeleteby the way Linda...
I live in Germany..and would like to buy wines from Waitrose....
I was over in England recently...
Why is it not possible for Waitrose to send me wine?
Regards
Barry
PS ..Tim....this seemed a good opportunity to ask....
Linda: thanks for fixing this on the website. The consumers deserve the most accurate information.
ReplyDeleteBarry: I agree Waitrose is excellent and if their wine is not available on the continent, it should be (if they can maintain the value). They must have a good buying team combined with buying power to get wine this good at these prices.
Hi Barry,
ReplyDeleteThe main reason for not delivering outside the UK is because of tax issues. My corporate department do on occasion facilitate large orders - let me know if you would want to get in touch with them.
Tim - thanks for your nice words on the Tarrango!
Linda
Hi Linda...How large is large?
ReplyDeleteI was after the Mt. Difficulty 2007...but 6 bottles would fulfill my needs...
I guess that's not large enough....
Hi Barry,
ReplyDeleteSorry 6 bottles is too small… May I suggest you contact the winery directly to see if they have a stockist in Germany http://www.mtdifficulty.co.nz/.
Linda