IN STORE PURCHASE RETURNS INFO
In the unlikely event that you purchase an item that does not meet your satisfaction, please contact us within 30 days and we will arrange a replacement. Please retain the original receipt as proof of purchase. To be eligible for a return, your bottle must be at least half-full and in the original packaging.
Unfortunately, from time-to-time bottles will develop faults, whether it’s corked, oxidised or otherwise faulty. In this instance, please replace the cork or screwcap and return the item to our store, please do not throw away the rest of the contents. Our knowledgeable staff will inspect the wine and determine the fault. If it’s faulty, we’ll happily offer a replacement or full refund.
Please note that we can only offer a full refund for faulty or damaged items. We offer store credit or an exchange on items that are unwanted gifts or items that are not to your satisfaction.
DELIVERY RETURNS
If you receive an order and the wine is faulty or damaged, we’ll be happy to give you a full refund or send out a replacement on receiving back the original order. Please contact us within 30 days by email or phone and we will organise a replacement or refund.
Photographic evidence of damage may be requested.
Please note that we can only offer a full refund for faulty or damaged items. We offer store credit or an exchange on items that are unwanted gifts or items that are not to your satisfaction.
PURCHASING FINE WINE
When ordering that special bottle of wine, it’s worth doing a little research or chatting with us before making a purchase. Wine is a living organism, which is susceptible to change and stages of development in the bottle, as well as varying between vintages. If you are considering ordering an older vintage, using a review site like cellartracker.com to try and get as much detail as possible of the flavour profile and development of the bottle you are considering.
You can contact us by telephone on 020 8969 9939 or by email info@riseandvine.co.uk or visit us in store.
Rise & Vine
30 Station Terrace,
Kensal Rise,
LONDON
NW10 5RP
FAULTY WINE
What is ‘Corked’ Wine?
Firstly, a corked wine does not refer to the little pieces of cork floating in the wine, this just happens if the cork is unscrewed badly, or it has disintegrated. A corked wine, or ‘cork taint’, means that the wine has been contaminated by a compound called TCA which is naturally occurring and can sometimes be found in cork as well as other wood, soil, vegetables etc. TCA forms when natural airborne fungi (that can live in the cork itself, or in the tree or barrels) comes in contact with certain chlorophenol compounds (found in winery sanitation products as well as herbicides and pesticides) causing a reaction with pretty funky results! A wine affected by cork taint smells musty, like wet cardboard, wet dog, or a just a general, dank stinkiness! The taste of the wine will be rather dull and flat, and the fruit characteristics will be lost. It is completely harmless to your health to drink a corked wine, but it won’t be much fun.
What is ‘Oxidised’ Wine?
Contamination caused by too much oxygen exposure. You know when you leave a sliced apple out on the counter and it turns brown? It’s that same process but in your wine. Oxidisation is the most common wine fault in older wines and is easy to replicate at home with any bottle of wine.
Oxidised wines lose their brightness, both in colour and in flavour. Deep reds turn to a brownish-orange colour and have a strange vinegar-and-caramelized-apple characteristic.
By the way, white wines are much more susceptible to oxidisation than reds, because reds’ higher tannin levels act as a buffer. If you really want to see what this looks like: open a new bottle, pour a glass and save that bottle for about a week. Congrats, you just ruined your wine. Drink some and compare it to that first glass you had.