On temperature control.

A bottle of wine exposed to 35 degrees Celsius for six hours is damaged. Not might be damaged. Is damaged. The proteins denature, the esters break down, and the wine tastes cooked. You cannot uncook it.

Florida in summer reaches 35 degrees before noon. The pavement radiates heat upward. A delivery truck parked in a restaurant loading dock for twenty minutes will reach 40 degrees inside. I have measured this with a thermometer taped to a case of Brunello.

For this reason, I do not ship wine in Florida between June 1 and September 30. All European shipments are scheduled to arrive at Port Miami between October and May. Domestic transfers from my warehouse are made in refrigerated trucks only, with continuous temperature logging.

This is expensive. Refrigerated trucking from Palm City to Miami costs roughly three times what a standard truck costs. Some clients have asked me to use standard trucks in May or October when the weather is "not that bad." I decline.

The cost of replacing a case of cooked wine is higher than the cost of refrigerated trucking. The cost of replacing a client who received cooked wine is higher still.

I lose roughly four delivery windows per year to this policy. I have never lost a bottle to heat damage.