I want everybody who enjoys Deerfield wine to be able to have it on their table anywhere in the world and the internet helps people to do that. That being said I encourage people to buy Deerfield wine online and it's a convenient way to be able to experience it if Sonoma Valley is a plane ticket away. I do have some advice though to help make drinking a bottle of Sangiovese in Germany as similar as possible to drinking it straight out of the barrel in the Cave.

Keep in mind that wine is alive. It's ever changing and like the rest of us can get stressed. Robert often remarks that wine is unique because it is not a solution - it is a suspension. In a solution, solids are dissolved in a liquid such as salt dissolved in water. In a suspension, like wine, microscopic solids actually hang in formation within the liquid. So jostling the wine around can shake up these very fragile bonds that when connected create the depth and complexity found in all Deerfield wines. You may have heard the term "bottle shock". After a wine goes through the traumatizing experience of the bottling line it can lose its cool. Maybe it doesn't like the loud noises - I'm not too sure... But what often follows is a period where the wine tastes one-dimensional: The flavor is there but the body isn't. The good news is that after a month or two the wine pulls its act together. If you can restrain yourself and wait a few months to open a bottle you will be rewarded.

A similar thing happens when a wine is shipped. Its journey impacts it. Travel tends to fray our ends a little bit and wine is no different. So if you order a bottle: Thank you, now do yourself a favor and stick in the cellar for at least a few weeks, then bring it to your friend's house and enjoy it with company for the full experience.

Wine is also very sensitive to temperature. Our cave is ideal because it stays a constant 60º. For that reason we do not ship to Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Pennsylvania, Utah by Ground when the weather is too hot. For all other states we can deliver by way of refrigerated truck. In our experience, sending it by 3 Day Air gets the wine to you safely if you live in one of the aforementioned states. Make sure that you will be home to sign for the package as an adult signature is required. State laws have made shipping wine to certain states challenging however, we can accommodate shipping to most states so give us a call or order online!