Do You Ship To Every State? 

Today's rules regarding shipping alcohol stretch all the way back to the repeal of Prohibition in 1933, when each state was granted the authority to determine if and how it would allow alcohol to enter its state lines. Laws regarding direct shipment of wine vary from state to state, and these rules and conditions change frequently. It's a crazy system, so we do our best to keep up with the regulations, and to help our guests get their wines home safely. The good news is that many states do allow us to ship wines directly to the buyer, but for those of you in a few other states, it can be challenging.  For more information regarding wine shipping, we encourage you to visit FreeTheGrapes.org. You are also welcome to email us at orders@fortunativineyards.com with additional questions.

Is There Sales Tax?

If you are lucky enough to reside in, or are shipping to, an address in the great state of California, then you get to pay California Sales Tax. If you are purchasing wine at our Lounge and carrying it out with you, you will also participate in California's Sales Tax. Some states outside of California require that we collect sales tax payable to that state. If we are required to collect sales tax for your state, the tax will be added to your invoice at checkout.

Do You Ship During the Summer?

Yes, but with caution. During the summer, even with our best shipment options, we cannot guarantee the wine will not be potentially exposed to temperature extremes, which is bad for wine. We do ship to many states during the summer months using two methods: Temperature Controlled (temp control) ground shipping for an additional $15 fee, and overnight delivery by FED EX at their going rates, which is considerably more than $15. We encourage you, if at all possible, to wait a few months (usually until October) to have your wine shipped. Waiting until the weather cools down will be less stressful for the wines and less expensive for you.

How Do You Ship?

It drives us crazy to have our wines damaged during shipping! We nurtured the vines, picked the fruit, aged it to perfection and bottled it by hand to be enjoyed-not ruined!  Therefore, the absolutely best way to get our wines is to not ship them at all, but arrange to pick up your wine when traveling through Napa Valley.  We'll hand them over safely, directly from us to you, and you can save yourself the shipping fees, too!  

But, we know that it's not always possible to pick up the wines. Our policy is to ship our wines in the safest, quickest and most cost-effective method we can arrange. We know wine shipping can get expensive, so we try to find ways to reduce the cost while maintaining quality. With each order you can count on us to select the best shipping method for that delivery. We do not "pad" our shipping fees-we make our money selling our amazing wines, not shipping them! We do use quality packaging materials and shippers with dedicated protocols for shipping wine, who have proven their abilities to deliver our wines with care and dedication. We're proud to partner with Concierge Packaging Services (CPS) of Sonoma, FED EX, and Golden State Overnight (GSO) to provide quality wine shipping options. If you are unable to receive CPS, FED EX or GSO shipments, please email us at orders@fortunativineyards.com and we will see if there is any other way for us to accommodate your needs. 

We are also willing to save your shipping preferences and send all your future orders via the method you select. Just let us know and we'll make a note of it!

What Does "Temp Control" or "Weather Hold" Mean?

"Temp Control" is a refrigerated ground service offered by CPS and FED EX. Packages are consolidated weekly and transported via refrigerated truck or refrigerated railcar to the hub nearest to you. The wine is then delivered locally via non-refrigerated trucks to the final destination. For this reason, we insist that Temp Control deliveries be sent to a business address where someone over the age of 21 will be available to sign for it before 10:00AM. This reduces the time the wine might spend sitting in a hot truck. Because we do not control when the consolidated shipments will roll (but at least once each week) this method takes a little bit longer to receive, but has proven to be a very effective and affordable option for shipping wines during hot months. You will receive shipping notifications from CPS/FED EX as your wine travels and its expected delivery time-please be sure someone over the age of 21 is there to greet it! If you receive a recommendation from us to ship your wines "Temp Control" we highly encourage you to do so!

"Weather Hold" is a message to let you know at check out that we will hold your shipment until temperature and weather conditions have improved. A "Weather Hold" can also be used for natural disasters, such as floods, fires, and just about anything that may affect the delivery of your shipment. If you receive a weather hold notification, your wine will be held by us until we think it might be safe to ship it. You will then receive shipping confirmation. You do have the option of upgrading to FED EX overnight delivery for an additional fee. For information about shipping overnight with a 10am delivery via FED EX contact us at orders@fortunativineyards.com.

Why Was I Charged an Additional Fee?

"Reroute Fee" If the delivery address is changed after the wine has been picked up by the shipper, they will charge a $15 "reroute" fee.  Why would an address need to be changed after the order was placed? The most common reason is that the delivery has failed at the original address (perhaps no one was home or over the legal age) so another address is provided while the package is still "out for delivery". The 2nd most common reason is that the original address was mis-entered or spelled wrong! Please be sure the entire address is correct when placing your order.  And sometimes, the buyers just want the wine sent to another location...whatever the reason! If we need to alert the shipper to a new address, there will be a reroute fee for the change.

"Residential Delivery Surcharge" We prefer our wines be shipped to a business address- and so do our shipping partners. We have far fewer delivery issues shipping to businesses. Unlike a residence, a business is typically easy to find, is rarely behind locked gates, often has posted business hours and may have additional employees available to sign upon delivery. Our shippers impose a $5 fee to deliver to a residence, so if at all possible save yourself this fee by shipping to a business address instead.

A note about shipping to FED EX stores: Some FED EX locations will charge the recipient a fee to pick up a delivery, and sometimes there may be an additional daily fee for storing the delivery. These fees are individually set by each franchise owner and we have no control over them, but we do want you to be aware...

How Many Delivery Attempts Will the Shipper Make?

Our shippers will make 3 attempts over 3 days to deliver your package, and they notify us each time they do (and we, in turn, try frantically to reach you via phone and email!). After the 3rd failed attempt, the wine will be returned to us, and we will continue to contact you. If we re-send you your shipment, common sense says we will re-charge you the shipping fees.