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Has WineBid gone downhill?

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Jenise

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Has WineBid gone downhill?

by Jenise » Thu Aug 13, 2026 2:35 pm

I haven't bought anything from them in a long time, but I still peruse it on slow days. And increasingly, I see listings like this one which mentions "light label condition issue". To my eye this is a lot more than that:

https://www.winebid.com/BuyWine/Item/10 ... ynch-Bages
My wine shopping and I have never had a problem. Just a perpetual race between the bankruptcy court and Hell.--Rogov
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Dale Williams

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Re: Has WineBid gone downhill?

by Dale Williams » Thu Aug 13, 2026 3:23 pm

yes, I wouldn't call that light, though label conditions don't usually bother me (depressed corks however...)
My last WB purchase was couple years ago. I don't know that they have gone downhill, but increased shipping and decreased time before storage charges make it unattractive.
I have always been in habit of bidding less at WB than other vendors, there is no meaningful attempt to verify provenance. Though the descriptions and pictures are usually accurate.
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Mark Lipton

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Re: Has WineBid gone downhill?

by Mark Lipton » Thu Aug 13, 2026 5:30 pm

Dale Williams wrote:yes, I wouldn't call light, though label conditions don't usually bother me (depressed corks however...)
My last WB purchase was couple years ago. I don't know that they have gone downhill, but increased shipping and decreased time before storage charges make it unattractive.
I have always been in habit of bidding less at WB than other vendors, there is no meaningful attempt to verify provenance. Though the descriptions and pictures are usually accurate.


Yeah, I've always avoided WB because of the lack of information about storage conditions/ provenance. Ironically, if I ever do sell off some of my wine, it'll probably be through WB since I don't have consistent 55° storage conditions in my passively cooled sub-grade cellar. A 30+ year history of pristine corks pulled and vibrant bottles won't be good enough for HDH or Zachy's. Also, I wouldn't be selling DRC or Giacosa, so there's that, too :mrgreen:
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Re: Has WineBid gone downhill?

by Jenise » Fri Aug 14, 2026 3:04 pm

Dale Williams wrote:yes, I wouldn't call that light, though label conditions don't usually bother me (depressed corks however...)
My last WB purchase was couple years ago. I don't know that they have gone downhill, but increased shipping and decreased time before storage charges make it unattractive.
I have always been in habit of bidding less at WB than other vendors, there is no meaningful attempt to verify provenance. Though the descriptions and pictures are usually accurate.


I once sold 3-4 cases of wine through them: all my Caymus, my hot and alcoholic 100 pt Quilceda Creeks, and the like. All were, from my perspective and that of anyone I know, in pretty impeccable condition and I remember being incensed at them taking exception to two tiny little pin pricks on one white Burgundy label (a terrible wine that undeservedly got a very high score from someone important) and calling that "light label condition". That, and the bottle I drew your attention to, aren't even in the same ballpark. And speaking of provenance, though mine did come from a temperature controlled cellar, they made no attempt to prove that and mistakenly listed it as passive/subterranean.

I haven't bought much from them since, though on slow days I sometimes look. Earlier this year I gave into temptation over a half dozen older Californians of which one, a '91 Dalle Valle (did I spell that right?) was coated in sticky spots from something that had exploded nearby and killed all the shine in the glass. It was not noted in their description of the condition though once alerted to it we could all see it in their photograph and the one I sent with it next to clean bottle. And even then they balked over the refund.

Anyway, overall, it just seems like their standards aren't as high as they used to be, and it really jumped out at me looking at the photograph I posted (the worst of a bunch of them similarly affected and yet still called "light").
My wine shopping and I have never had a problem. Just a perpetual race between the bankruptcy court and Hell.--Rogov

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