Shipping Policy

Age Requirement

By law alcoholic beverages may be sold and delivered only to persons who are at least 21 years old. In placing an order with us, you represent that you are at least 21 years old and additionally that the person to whom you request delivery will be at least 21 years old. When your wine is delivered, verification of age may be required.

All costs associated with failure to meet or verify these age requirements are the customer’s responsibility and will be charged to them.  These costs may include any expense that result from carrier returning an order to us when it deems the package undeliverable and the reship expense if and when the customer requests us to attempt shipment again.

Shipping and Orders

We currently ship to the following states:
AK, AZ, CA, CO, DC, FL, GA, HI, ID, IN, IA, LA, ME, MI, MD, MN, MO, MT, NE, NV, NM, NY, NC, ND, OH, OR, PA, SC, TN, VT, VA, WA, WI, WY.

Due to the rapid changes in wine shipping laws, we may not be able to ship to any of the above states with no prior notice. If you place an order and we are unable to ship we will notify you and refund all charges.

We do not ship to the following states:
AL, AR, CT, DE, IL, KS, KY, MA, MS, NH, NJ, OK, RI, SD, TX, UT, WV.

If we cannot ship to a desired state, please contact us and we will seek to find an alternative to source the desired wines for you.

We Collect Sales Tax When Required

Many states require that we collect sales tax on orders. Accordingly, relevant taxes will be collected on orders based on the state they are being shipped to.  A customer will see the relevant tax being charged in the cart when they finalize their order.

Shipping Addresses & Delivery

We want to emphasize the following important items:

(1)  Adult Signature Requirement - An adult of 21 years of age or older must be present to sign for the delivery of a Foolhardy wine shipment (or any alcohol shipment). This is typically state law and is the strict policy of our shipping carrier.

(2)  Limited Attempts To Deliver - The carrier will only typically make three attempts to deliver a package and receive the required adult signature.  They will not leave the package without a signature.

(3)  Customer Financial Responsibility -  Foolhardy is charged by the carrier if it returns a package having made typically three attempts to deliver the item.  We are also charged to reship the item once restocked. The customer is responsible for any and all of these additional expenses.

We recommend you consider shipping to a business address in order to protect the wine and assure an adult of 21 years of age is available to sign for the package. Delivery to a residence may cause a delay in delivery and possible adverse heat/cold exposure to your wine.  The customer is responsible for assuring an appropriate adult will be present to receive and sign for a shipment.  The carrier will only typically make three attempts to deliver a package prior to returning the item to us.  Any additional expense resulting from the failure to ensure an adult is present to receive the package are the responsibility of the customer.

UPS, Ship Dates & Notices

We currently use UPS (the “carrier”) for all shipping options. The default shipping option is UPS ground. You may select UPS overnight. Note that not all shipping options are available for each State or specific zip code we ship to.  Shipping rates are based on the number of bottles ordered, the delivery zip code and the UPS service level selected. Any shipping discounts offered on orders apply to UPS Ground only. Please contact us with any other shipping requests.

All orders typically ship within 3-4 business days. We generally ship orders to the Eastern United States on Monday and Tuesday, depending on the shipment method, in an effort to limit the total days in transit.

If you provide an email address with your order (or if it is stored in your account), we will send you a notification when your order ships, when it is out for delivery and when it has been delivered.  These notifications are dependent on the carrier providing us electronic updates.

Importantly, if UPS informs us of a failed delivery attempt (e.g. nobody present to sign and accept the package), we will send you an exception notification via email alerting you.  UPS typically leaves written notice of the failed delivery attempt at the address specified.  To avoid delay, additional expense and potential damage to the wine, you should take appropriate action to ensure delivery by the carrier as soon as practical.

We currently do not offer an order pickup option.

Weather

We strongly advise you to evaluate the expected weather conditions before placing an order on our web site. Wine is highly susceptible to damage by warm weather and there is a risk of freezing in very cold weather. We cannot accept returns for wine damaged by weather.

In known warm weather (e.g. summer months) or forecasted unusual weather (e.g. with sufficient notice), we will hold your order for shipment until an appropriate time. We will notify you if we are holding your shipment. You will receive shipment notice once the hold is released.

Damage Policy

If your product is damaged in shipping, please notify us immediately, and we will file a claim with the carrier, as well as replace your damaged bottles. Please take photographs of the damage for our report to the carrier.

By law, we cannot accept returns of wine unless the products are corked or flawed. We are also unable to accept return of wine that was damaged due to weather damage during shipment, or wine that is ordered in error. Weather damage may include leaking, freezing, high wine temperature and/or corks pushing. Please be sure to check shipping destination weather conditions before placing your order.

Should you receive flawed wine, please let us know. We ask that you return the unfinished portion of the original bottle. We will replace or refund your cost for any bottle of wine that is flawed that was purchased through our website. You will receive a full refund, including shipping and handling charges, or you will receive a full replacement order. To arrange for the return of corked or flawed products, please email us at info@foolhardyvintners.com. Wines purchased through retailers must be returned to them.

If you have any questions about our policies please contact us at info@foolhardyvintners.com.