Hold your drink? Insurer says $400K in wine ruined during delivery

Wine lovers beware — the following information may be upsetting.

Federal Insurance Co., a subsidiary of Chubb, recently filed a complaint in federal court suing a logistics provider, Connoisseur International Distribution Ltd., as well as Scandinavian Airlines System, for negligence after an insured received nearly $400,000 of “cooked” wine.

In June 2019, a shipment of 995 bottles of wine was sent from Stockholm to wine retailer and auction house Zachy’s Wine and Liquor Store in New York. The delivery of wine was in good order at the beginning of its journey. But during the transportation, handling, or storage of the wine, the shipment sustained damage potentially caused by exposure to excessive temperatures. The high-temperature exposure rendered the wine to be unfit for the intended use (presumably drinking). When the wine was delivered to the Zachy’s receiving facility, the wine was in a depreciated condition.

The optimal storage conditions for a bottle of wine are particular. The ideal temperature range is between 45 degrees Fahrenheit and 65 degrees Fahrenheit; temperatures above 70 degrees will age wine beyond what is desirable. The carriage contracts between Connoisseur International Distribution, Scandinavian Airlines System, and Zachy’s included provisions that the companies responsible for transporting the wine must provide specific care for the shipment during the carriage and custody from Sweden to delivery in New York. During transportation, the wine was exposed to extreme temperatures, leaving the wine with a cooked, jammy flavor.

Editors Note: This isn’t the first time we’ve seen large claims over wine. In a case from 2018, the Court of Appeals of California ruled that the vintage wine collector, who accidentally purchased $18 million of counterfeit wine, was not owed a payout by his insurance company to cover the losses claimed after he discovered the wine was counterfeit.

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