Goodbye CWC?

Not to be a rumormonger, but anyone who has any prearrival stuff at Carolina Wine Company should consider contacting your credit card company and contesting charges.

I haven't bought anything from them in probably 4-5 years (some Boxlers at great prices), but still am on email list. On Jan 9th they sent this message:

Our phone and point-of-sale system problems turn out to be more systemic than I thought. We will therefore be closed next week for our yearly inventory and mechanical upfits. We will re-open on Monday, January 19th.

Meanwhile, we will send a few Wine Sale emails as we sort out what's in stock. And we'll fill these orders when the point-of-sale is back up.

Thank you again for your business and patience.

Apparently now the Charlotte store and Vin are closed, and people report that there is a generic phone company message on number. It's hard to believe a fairly big business couldn't reroute phone calls. Plus reports that all the high end stuff at Vin got moved out and sold at retail over holidays. Maybe, just maybe, this is a going concern. But I'd give pretty good odds they're gone.

[David M. Bueker]

Sure looks like they are done. I haven't bought anything in several years as well (thankfully).

I'm sorry they're gone, mainly because I know Jane (JC) enjoyed the restaurant, which seemed to be very good. I hope people get their wines, but the stories re empty shelves, and the weird story re phones and POS system don't breed confidence.

[David M. Bueker]

I had been to Enoteca Vin twice (once with Jane), and it was good.

http://www.newsobserver.com/business/story/1383482.html

I must say that the not wanting to give a number or email where customers can contact doesn't strike me as a plausible strategy for reopening. Apparently there are LOTS of people owed mucho vino.

[James Roscoe]

http://www.newsobserver.com/business/story/1383482.html

I must say that the not wanting to give a number or email where customers can contact doesn't strike me as a plausible strategy for reopening. Apparently there are LOTS of people owed mucho vino.

Are the Feds involved? It sure has a bad stench about it from the information you provide Dale.

Yes, this is bad. Anyone who has wine there needs to get on credit card claims and one or another of the groups trying to organize to retrieve wine in the warehouse ASAP. Unfortunately, everyone (including me) is going to be screwed for the wine that was never ordered.

If this is true, I could be out a few cases of wine still in storage. I was planning to pick up at least twelve bottles during Triangle Wine Experience February 5-7. However, I still have many bottles on hand (mostly Burgundy and Spanish wines) picked up previously. I'm very sorry if the restaurant and retail business are done.

pdmarquardt and JC,
I hope you get your wine, though reports keep getting worse and worse. Good luck!

I have corresponded with a Charlotte resident who is organizing group response. I have always liked Chrish Peel and the staff at CWC and Vin so I'm regretful about the whole situation. I'm really more sorry to see CWC and Vin close than worried about the money or wines I might be missing. (David Bueker did warn me about the gray market aspects.) Enoteca Vin was scheduled to host a wine dinner Thursday, Feb. 5 as part of Triangle Wine Experience. I hope they can move it to another venue or find slots at other wine dinners for the people who had purchased tickets. I will be dining at St. Jacques Restaurant where Belinda Reynolds will be presenting French wines from the Frederick Wildman portfolio:

Social: Pol Roger- Brut Champagne
1st Course: Pascal Jolivet- Sancerre
2nd Course: Olivier Laflaive- Meursault
3rd Course: Paul Jaboulet Aine- Crozes-Hermitage
Dessert: Paul Jaboulet Aine- Beaumes-de-Venise

I attended the St. Jacques wine dinner during Triangle Wine Experience two or three years ago and it was perhaps the best meal I have had during about seven or eight years of participating in TWE. Last year I went to Bloomsbury Bistro with Martinelli wines and another year to Capital City Club with Markham wines. I have also been to wine dinners at Nana's in Durham (another excellent meal with Ponzi wines), Fearrington (with Becky Wasserman wines), Sullivan's (Robert Mondavi wines), Zely and Ritz, and Margaux (Saintsbury as I recall).

We've formed a group of folks to share updates, information on credit card chargebacks, ideas for possible approaches, etc. The link is http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/cwccustomers/. Credit card chargeback is looking like the only promising option to me, but people will have to form their own views.

Paul

We've formed a group of folks to share updates, information on credit card chargebacks, ideas for possible approaches, etc. The link is http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/cwccustomers/. Credit card chargeback is looking like the only promising option to me, but people will have to form their own views.

Good luck!
The one thing that was a good sign was the deputy mentioned in the blog seeing boxes with customers names. I doubt that the prearrival wines ever existed, but it might be that some people like Jane who had orders waiting for pickup might be able to recover some wine based on the principle it was already their properts. I doubt many assets for a bankruptcy, so for the rest cc is probably only option (disclaimer: I'm not a lawyer, I'm just opinionated).

There is still a chance I might get back the wines being stored in the warehouse. Apparently Chrish is contacting customers about pickup or shipping (this is secondhand info.) Meanwhile, a former customer group is in the initial stages of organizing a wine tasting in the Raleigh area to commiserate and have a good time (possibly at a lake house.) I hope it comes off. The wine dinner that was supposed to be held at Enoteca Vin during Triangle Wine Experience was moved to Second Empire Restaurant. They have a more formal dining room on an upper level and a more casual dining room in the basement level so apparently hosted two wine dinners on the same night--the one previously scheduled and the one with Vinoce that was supposed to be at Vin.

Apparently they filed for chapter 7 Friday.
JC, hope you got your wine. If not you might try contacting the trustee as soon as possible. It's possible if wines are marked as belonging to customers the trustee will release. If not, not much hope, as liquidation will go first to secured creditors. Then only option would be cc company.

Dale,
I'm resigned to the fact that I will be out some wine and money (not as much as some others apparently.) Starting in 2006 I made many of my purchases with a debit card rather than a credit card to avoid credit card interest charges so that money came directly out of my checking account at the bank. I will have to see if there is any recourse with BB&T on the debit card charges. Some are getting at least provisional credits on credit card charges. Thanks for thinking of me and the advice.