Shipping & local delivery

Shipping your wine

No wine is shipped "by default". All wine shipments - whether purchased in our online wine store, the Vinfolio Marketplace or sent from storage - must be initiated by you. When planning a shipment, or local delivery, please keep in mind the time it takes to prepare your wine - When is my wine available?

To schedule a shipment or local delivery, you have three options:

1. Use the "Move wine from Storage" link in My Account to select wine and arrange shipping or local delivery (recommended)
2. Send an email to service@vinfolio.com with requested wines and shipment methods
3. Call Customer Service at 415-946-1300 or 1-800-969-1961

Shipping methods

Standard shipping

You decide when you want to ship and when you want the wine to arrive at its destination.  This may be the right choice for you if you need wine to arrive at its destination by a specific date (e.g., for an event).

When shipping this way, it is solely your responsibility to ensure weather conditions are appropriate for shipping as you agree to hold Vinfolio harmless for any temperature-related damage resulting from such a shipment (see Shipping advice or use our Vinfolio Safe Shipping option below).

Vinfolio Safe Shipping

This is a good option to use when you are more concerned with protecting the condition of the wine while in transit than the shipment’s specific arrival date.

Vinfolio will ship your wine so that it arrives no later than Friday of a given week.  While our recommendation is to ship the fastest means possible, this can be expensive (even at our discounted rates).

Shipping Speed Days Available to Ship Overnight (Priority or Standard) Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu 2-Day Mon, Tue, Wed 3-Day Mon, Tue Ground (if est. arrival within 3 days) Mon, Tue, Wed (depends on state)

Vinfolio will perform a weather check prior to shipping and will hold any shipment that is expected to experience adverse temperature conditions.  We define adverse temperature conditions as weather forecasts of greater than 75 degrees or less than 20 degrees Fahrenheit. We use Accuweather.com to provide forecasts of temperatures for your destination location on the estimated arrival date.  If our initial attempt to ship your wine is held because of adverse temperature conditions, we call this a “weather hold”.

Initial weather hold notification: If your shipment is subject to a weather hold, you will be notified by email prior to your shipment date.   Upon an initial weather hold, you may ask us to ship regardless of conditions by returning the email or calling Customer Service.  You may ask us to change your shipping method to Standard Shipping by returning the email or calling Customer Service.   If you do not respond, we will automatically attempt to ship the following week.

Second shipping attempt: By default, we will attempt to re-ship any orders on weather hold the following week, after again checking the temperature forecast.   If adverse temperature conditions are still present, orders will again be placed on weather hold.

Second weather hold notification: If your shipment is subject to a second weather hold, you will again be notified by email no later than your shipment date. You may ask us to change your shipping method to Standard Shipping by returning the email or calling Customer Service.  If you do not respond, we will transfer your order into storage at our temperature controlled warehouse the following week.  It will remain there until you re-request shipment.

State eligibility for shipping

Vinfolio accepts all orders for shipment in California. If you wish to ship to another state, you assume all responsibility for shipment, including wine shipped from storage. As state laws are changing constantly, acceptance of an order is not a guarantee that we will ultimately be able to ship wine to you. We will notify you during the checkout process or when you are arranging a shipment from storage if we are unable to ship wine to the zip code you request. If this occurs, click here to read about your options. Learn more about Interstate shipping and alternatives. For a concise summary of the historical background behind today’s wine interstate shipping laws, we recommend reading The Three-Tier System and Consumer Access to Wine by Tom Wark of the Fermentation blog.

Shipping services & fees

Domestic: We ship FedEx to those states where shipping is legal.  All shipments use Styrofoam inserts within a cardboard “shipper” to protect your wine from shock damage and provide basic insulation (all wine leaves our warehouse at 55 degrees).   Once your shipment has been sent, you will receive an email containing the tracking number and information for your shipment.  For bulk shipments (25+ cases), freight forwarders with temperature-controlled trucks may be arranged.

International: Contact us for a quote for international shipments. Most countries (e.g., Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong) are supported using DHL or specialized shipping companies. There are usually additional duties (sometimes at onerous levels) based on your destination country (see sample international shipping rates). Please see our detailed terms relating to international shipping.

Local delivery services

Vinfolio offers local delivery services in the San Francisco Bay Area plus Napa and Sonoma counties in our 55 degree temperature-controlled vans. View our weekly route day schedule to see what days we are in your area.

Same-day local delivery service is available. For details, call 1-800-969-1961.

Local delivery fees

Local delivery is free with a cumulative purchase of 6 bottles of wine from one or more purchases being delivered at once on the weekly route days for your area (subject to capacity). Other local deliveries cost $10 per carton with a two-carton minimum.

Fees may be required if you have insufficient bottle delivery credits or are requesting less than 6 bottles be delivered, require a specific delivery date or a date by which you need wine delivered outside of scheduled days. For requests that cannot be accommodated using our vans, we will arrange an alternative and quote you the rate we are given.

Same-day local delivery service is available starting at $20.

Warehouse pick-ups

Individuals may pick-up wine at either of our warehouses on weekdays from 9am - 8pm PST in San Francisco and from 9am - 5 pm PST in Napa. Please note that advance authorization is required if someone other than the account owner is picking up.

All wine being picked up must be available for transfer before you arrive. Please keep in mind the time needed to prepare your wine.

Transit insurance

Wine in transit (via our vans, FedEx, or others) is fully insured for up to $1,000,000 at no charge when arranged by us (additional coverage is available). This insurance covers missing shipments, breakage, and other non-temperature related damage. (See Vinfolio Safe Shipping above as a means of protecting your wine from temperature-related damage).