Frequently Asked Questions
Culture Wine Co. is the only three-tiered merchant (import, wholesale, e-commerce) in the US focused solely on the wines of South Africa. This San Francisco based company partners with producers for exclusive representation in the California B2B market, while also serving consumers nationally in forty-four states through our e-commerce webstore and wine club.
Culture Wine Co. can ship directly to the customer in the following states: AK, AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, HI, IA, ID, IN, KS, LA, MA, MD, ME, MN, MO, MT, NC, ND, NE, NH, NM, NV, NY, OH, OR, PA, SC, TN, VA, WA, WI, WV, WY
Because we are shipping alcoholic beverages, someone 21 years or older must be present at the time of delivery to receive your club shipment. You will receive the tracking details for your club shipment via email when the wine has been shipped.
At Culture Wine Co., ensuring the highest integrity of your wine during shipping is of paramount importance to us. We handle the responsibility with great care. In situations where there are extreme temperature fluctuations, be it heat or cold spikes, we take precautionary measures by placing your club shipment on hold. Rest assured that as soon as the extreme conditions have subsided, we will promptly release the shipments. If your club shipment is affected by such circumstances, we will notify you via email. Your satisfaction and the preservation of your wine are our top priorities.
Club membership can be adjusted at any time by logging into your account > club membership > cancel or by emailing us at info@culturewineco.com.
If you are writing to cancel your membership, we would be immensely grateful if you could share any reason for canceling your membership. We value your feedback, and your input will help us enhance and refine our services to better meet the needs of our valued members.
If you wish to cancel an order after it has been shipped, we can assist you with a small cancellation fee, which may vary based on the order size. Please be aware that carriers charge us considerable sums to recall packages in transit.
Culture Wine Co. will not be held responsible for heat-related issues that occur during shipping. However, to help mitigate such concerns, we offer icepacks as one of our shipping options. We strongly recommend selecting this option spring through fall if you anticipate potential heat-related challenges.
If you are dissatisfied with your purchase, please contact us via e-mail at info@culturewineco.com. We value your feedback and aim to address your concerns. Please note that we can offer refunds only in the form of store credit.
Our shipping partners, UPS and sometimes FedEx, can only deliver wine to customers who are 21 years or older. A recipient of legal age must be present at the delivery address to receive the package; carriers are not allowed to leave packages unattended. Age verification is mandatory upon delivery.
Culture Wine Co.’s Standard Shipping Carrier is UPS
Your club shipment will be shipped the following week after the billing date using standard ground methods. You will receive tracking information via email when your club shipment is ready to ship.
Culture Wine Co. must use a third-party shipper for the following states: DE, IL, KY, MI, NJ, OK, RI, TX
Third-party shipping involves a business sending their wine to a separate entity who handles all the businesses’ shipping and distribution needs.
Certain states are stuck in the dark ages regarding wine shipping laws. This requires us to use a third-party shipper to get the wine to you. It’s not ideal, but it’s our only legal option to ship to these states.
Customer places an order, our fulfillment partner packages and consolidates this order, along with their other partner’s orders for that state and then trucks them (refrigerated) there once per week. Once in that state, a regional carrier (such as UPS or FedEx) will deliver last mile. The wine stays in a temperature control environment throughout the third-party process. This takes between one-two weeks from order to delivery.
Roughly one-two weeks from order to delivery. Customers will receive tracking information within 3-5 days of order.
Sadly, yes. Culture Wine Co. cannot ship to the following states: AL, AR, MS, SD, UT, VT
Some states are completely anti-free trade when it comes to wine. As a result, these states have closed their borders entirely to any out of state wine shipments (retail or wineries). If you would like to learn more about the challenges of interstate wine shipping, please click here.
YES, Culture Wine Co. offers a case discount! When you purchase 12 bottles or more, you will receive 10% off your order automatically!
CRV, or California Redemption Value, is a California law implemented on January 1, 2024 requiring retailers to collect a small tax on bottles of wine sold and shipped anywhere within the USA. This includes beverage containers that are boxes, bladders or pouches containing WINE, distilled spirits, wine coolers, or distilled spirit coolers. Consumers pay a California Redemption Value (CRV) fee when they purchase beverages and receive CRV refunds when they redeem containers at a recycling center or retailer (called a dealer in the program).
Customers can order wine from the Culture Wine Co. e-commerce webstore any time. Culture Wine Co. ships to 44 states across the United States. Culture Wine Co. does not have a physical location for its retail store. Culture Wine Co. only sell retail online.
Culture Wine Co. is passionate about partnering with innovative wineries that emphasize sustainability and minimal intervention. Its ethos is to support black-owned wineries and winemakers and aims to be an active member of several organizations in South Africa that lead to black economic empowerment.
Yes, Culture Wine Co. is owned and operated by its founder, Peter Andrews.
The mission of Culture Wine Co. is To Share Culture Through Wine. Culture Wine Co. was born out of a desire to share the stories of South Africa: a culturally rich country, its diverse winemaking community, and its wine. There is so much more to the bottle than the juice and label, and Culture aims to share this in a vibrant and connecting way.
The key goal of Culture Wine Co. is to grow awareness and respect of the high quality and value of South African wine, ultimately driving an increase in sales. This is achieved through rigorous curation standards, representing producers that consumers feel compelled to support, and sharing stories with energy and respect.
The vision of Culture Wine Co. is to become the nationally recognized leader in sourcing and selling South African Wine, educating businesses and consumers-alike of its unique wines and culture, while giving back to the BIPOC community in both the USA and South Africa through job creation, mentorship, and community outreach.
Culture Wine Co. sells exclusively South African wine. We have exclusive partnership agreements with our producers to import their wines to California. We are the only wholesaler of our producer-partner’s wines in California and sell and ship them retail across the United States.
Culture Wine Co. is based in San Francisco, CA
Culture Wine Co. stores its wine in a professional, temperature and humidity-controlled warehouse in northern California.
Yes, Culture Wine Co. will notify you prior to club shipments. You will be notified via email 2 weeks and 2 days prior to billing about your upcoming shipment. You’ll have until the 2nd notice to pause or take advantage of the member perk of adding additional a-la-carte bottles that month for free shipping + 10% off.
Culture Wine Co. wholesales to the trade throughout the state of California.
Culture Wine Co. sells and ships wines direct-to-consumer in 44 states across the United States.
- Upon placing an order, you will receive an order confirmation email with a summary of your purchase. (Please ensure that your email address is accurate to receive the order and shipping confirmation emails)
- Once your order ships from our warehouse, you will receive a shipping confirmation email containing your tracking information.
- Please use the tracking service to monitor your package’s progress.
- The carrier will attempt delivery up to three times. If the delivery is unsuccessful after three attempts or if you fail to retrieve your package at the carrier depot within the specified deadline, the shipping fee will not be refunded.
If a package is returned to us after three unsuccessful delivery attempts, we can arrange for re-shipping. However, please note that a re-shipping fee will apply, based on the shipping address and the number of bottles in the order. We understand that shipping wine can be costly, but unfortunately, this fee is necessary. We kindly request you to ensure that someone is available at the specified shipping address to receive the package.
Should you wish to reroute a package after it has been shipped, we can accommodate your request for a fee of $25. However, please be aware that we are unable to reroute packages across state borders.
Your club shipment will be billed and shipped monthly. Here’s what to expect:
- Customer signs up for the club; they receive a confirmation email.
- Culture Wine Club then bills the first club, and all subsequent shipment on the FIFTEENTH of each month.
- Culture Wine Co. notifies club members via email 2 weeks prior to billing about your upcoming shipment, allowing up to 2 days prior to shipping to make any changes
- Culture Wine Club offers 10% off all wines on the website + free shipping for the club itself.
- We recommend adding bottles to your club (account > club memberships > edit wines) prior to shipments. Those will receive your 10% discount AND ship for free with the club.
Aside from the cost of the bottles each month and taxes, there is no additional cost to join the Culture Wine Club.
Yes, the Culture Wine Club is totally Flexible! You can pause any time you’d like. Each month, you can also add additional bottles to the order and receive 10% off + free shipping
