A serious wine buyer should ask about price basis, samples, minimums, shipment terms, timing, tracking, temperature, documents, labels, payment, continuity and problem resolution. A credible export partner answers with dated quotations, current product files and named responsibilities. If a policy depends on the order, “discussed per agreement” is more honest than an invented universal answer.

These twelve questions help an importer, distributor or group buyer compare partners on the same evidence.

1. What exactly is included in the price?

Ask for:

  • currency;
  • validity date;
  • wine, vintage and lot;
  • bottles per case;
  • Incoterm, named place and edition;
  • origin handling included;
  • freight or insurance included;
  • duties and taxes excluded or included;
  • sample and artwork charges;
  • rebates or tiers and their conditions.

ICC explains that Incoterms clarify delivery tasks, costs and risks.[1] A price without an exact named place cannot be compared fairly with another quotation.

The acceptable answer is a line-item offer. “Direct from producer” is a sourcing description, not a complete price basis.

2. How are samples selected and charged?

The sample should match the wine a buyer may order. Require:

  • exact vintage and lot;
  • current technical sheet;
  • front and back label;
  • sample price and freight;
  • any credit against an order;
  • export and carrier route;
  • replacement process for damaged samples.

Ask who chose the bottles. A curated sample set should answer the buyer's channel brief, not merely clear convenient stock.

Winesal-specific sample fees were not available in the approved owner data, so they must be quoted for the request.

3. What is the MOQ, and what creates it?

MOQ may apply per SKU, producer, collection, label run or total shipment. Ask the partner to separate:

  • full-case requirement;
  • producer minimum;
  • consolidation minimum;
  • private-label production minimum;
  • freight minimum;
  • mixed-order rules.

Then ask which elements can change. A warehouse pick minimum may be negotiable through a fee. A production run may not be.

Do not publish one MOQ across a portfolio unless the owner has approved it.

4. Which Incoterms are genuinely available?

Ask for a quote under the terms the seller can actually perform. EXW, FCA and DAP create different hand-offs. Record:

  • exact named place;
  • loading and unloading;
  • export and import clearance;
  • main carriage;
  • risk transfer;
  • insurance.

Do not accept “delivered” without knowing whether the term is DAP, DDP or informal language. Incoterms do not by themselves decide title, payment or product acceptance.

5. What does lead time include?

Break the answer into:

  1. order approval;
  2. payment or credit release;
  3. producer preparation;
  4. label and document work;
  5. collection;
  6. consolidation;
  7. main carriage;
  8. customs or excise release;
  9. final delivery.

Ask for a range and dependencies for each stage. “Dispatch in three days” could begin after weeks of preparation and says nothing about delivery.

No approved Winesal-wide lead-time standard was available for this article. Request a shipment-specific timeline.

6. How will we track the order?

Tracking should provide decisions, not decorative updates.

Ask:

  • Which milestones are visible?
  • Who receives alerts?
  • What counts as delay?
  • Who escalates a missed collection?
  • Can we access transport and movement references?
  • How are changes recorded?
  • Who is reachable outside office hours for an active exception?

A small order still needs an owner. Do not accept a shared inbox as the only escalation plan.

7. How is temperature risk managed?

The Australian Wine Research Institute notes that temperature extremes during transport can damage wine and recommends reference samples under known conditions for investigations.[2]

Ask for:

  • route and hubs;
  • standard, insulated or controlled service;
  • logger options;
  • seasonal shipment advice;
  • holdback sample;
  • receiving inspection;
  • insurance and claim procedure.

“We ship wine all year” is not a risk assessment. The service should match product value, season and lane.

8. Who prepares each compliance document?

Use a responsibility matrix for:

  • commercial invoice;
  • packing list;
  • customs classification;
  • excise movement;
  • origin evidence;
  • TTB permit and COLA where applicable;
  • FDA facility data and Prior Notice where applicable;
  • UK or EU product records;
  • destination labels.

TTB states that the US commercial importer must have a Federal Basic Permit and obtain applicable label approvals.[3] An Italian export partner can support documents but should not imply that it replaces the licensed US importer.

9. Who approves the label?

The buyer should receive:

  • current artwork;
  • destination-market version;
  • ingredient and allergen data;
  • certificates for claims;
  • regulator or importer approval where applicable;
  • controlled version number;
  • change triggers.

Ask what happens if ABV, vintage, importer or QR information changes. Approval of one version should not be stretched to a different lot without review.

10. What are the payment and credit terms?

Commercial specifics must be discussed per agreement. Ask for:

  • deposit and balance;
  • due dates;
  • currency;
  • bank-charge allocation;
  • credit limit if any;
  • late-payment consequences;
  • title and risk treatment;
  • cancellation;
  • refund or credit process.

Verify bank details through a separate channel before first payment or any change. This is standard fraud control, not distrust of the supplier.

No terms should appear in a public article unless the owner approved them and can operationally maintain them.

11. What happens when a vintage or wine runs out?

Continuity is a product-management process.

Ask:

  • How early will the partner notify us?
  • Is the next vintage sampled before substitution?
  • Does ABV or label change?
  • Does price change?
  • Can a replacement wine serve the same account role?
  • Who updates technical and staff material?
  • Are back orders allowed?

Never allow silent substitution. A new vintage may be excellent and still require a new commercial decision.

For a limited wine, the partner should say “limited” only with current stock evidence. A historical production story is not an availability promise.

12. How are shortages, damage and nonconformity resolved?

The agreement should cover:

  • receiving inspection;
  • notice deadline;
  • photographs and logger data;
  • quarantine;
  • sample and laboratory comparison;
  • carrier and insurance claims;
  • credit, replacement or rejection;
  • disposal authority;
  • root-cause review.

Ask who makes the final quality decision. Sales staff should not release suspect stock to preserve a relationship.

The best answer includes a written workflow and one accountable person.

The question buyers forget: who owns the data?

An export relationship creates product data, artwork, translations, tasting notes, images and account feedback. Ask:

  • Which facts come from the producer?
  • Who may edit them?
  • Who approves public copy?
  • Who owns translated material?
  • What image rights exist?
  • What happens after the agreement ends?
  • How is customer data protected?

This matters when a distributor invests in an unknown estate. Clear rights allow the team to sell confidently without inventing content.

Score the answers

Use a simple evidence scale:

Score: 0
Meaning: No answer

Score: 1
Meaning: Verbal generality

Score: 2
Meaning: Written policy without order-specific detail

Score: 3
Meaning: Dated order-specific evidence and named owner

Weight compliance, product identity and problem resolution more heavily than presentation polish.

Red flags include:

  • guaranteed dates without dependencies;
  • certifications without certificates;
  • “exclusive” without territory and performance terms;
  • prices without an Incoterm;
  • samples from a different vintage without disclosure;
  • one universal label for every market;
  • no process for shortages or damage.

What a good first-order pack contains

Commercial

  • signed quotation;
  • term and named place;
  • payment and cancellation;
  • MOQ definition.

Product

  • exact wines, vintages and lots;
  • technical sheets and labels;
  • claims and certificates;
  • case and pallet data.

Compliance

  • responsibility matrix;
  • destination review;
  • customs or excise instructions;
  • approvals and references.

Operations

  • milestone schedule;
  • tracking contacts;
  • temperature plan;
  • receiving and claims process.

Verify the partner behind the presentation

A polished portfolio does not by itself establish authority to sell every wine. Ask the proposed partner to identify the legal seller, producer relationship and destination rights for each shortlisted SKU. Confirm that the bank beneficiary, invoice entity and contract party make sense together.

For producer facts, request the original technical or certification source. For trade rights, request an owner-approved statement or agreement suitable for due diligence. Do not ask for confidential documents that the buyer has no need to see, but do require enough evidence to avoid a conflicting appointment.

Use a pre-mortem before payment

Assume the first order failed and ask why. Likely causes might include:

  • the sample and delivered vintage differed;
  • a label was not ready;
  • one producer delayed consolidation;
  • duty or freight was omitted from the model;
  • heat exposure was unmanaged;
  • the target accounts did not convert;
  • payment details were changed fraudulently;
  • a territory conflict appeared.

Assign one prevention and one contingency for each plausible failure. This short exercise exposes gaps that a standard checklist can miss.

Review the relationship after receipt

Score the partner again after delivery. Compare promises with actual milestones, documents, quantities and issue handling. A supplier that communicated a delay early may be more reliable than one that met a date but left discrepancies unresolved.

Store the result with the next-order decision. Due diligence is a continuing control, not a form completed once.

The public /catalog can support discovery. It does not answer these twelve questions for a specific order. Request current terms and evidence.

Request the catalogue and book a call to work through this twelve-question scorecard with your destination, channel and first-order shortlist.

Sources

  1. International Chamber of Commerce, “Incoterms Rules,” https://iccwbo.org/business-solutions/incoterms-rules/. Checked 2026-07-27.
  2. Australian Wine Research Institute, “Transport and Storage,” https://www.awri.com.au/industry_support/winemaking_resources/storage-and-packaging/post-packaging/transport-and-storage/. Checked 2026-07-27.
  3. TTB, “Permit Application: Wholesaler/Importer,” https://www.ttb.gov/regulated-commodities/beverage-alcohol/wholesaler/permit-application. Checked 2026-07-27.