Shipping & Returns

How To Order

To place an order through our website, go to the "The Wines" page on the main menu bar and select the wines you wish to purchase by entering the number of bottles and clicking the "add to cart" button. (Or you can select a wine to purchase on the sub-page that provides additional information about a specific wine.) When you have completed your selection, continue the purchase by clicking on the "checkout" button. This will take you to a window where you provide your billing and shipping addresses, specify the carrier you wish to use and the mode of shipping (next day, 2-day, etc.), and enter information for the credit card you will be using. The website will automatically check to make sure it's legal for us to ship wine to the address you provided; calculate any taxes applicable to sales to your address; add the shipping charges; and, when you approve the final order, it will charge your credit card.

All orders must be placed by a person who is at least 21 years of age. By placing an order, you represent that you are 21 or older and that you are purchasing for personal use, not for resale.

For Orders Placed by Wine Club and Legacy Members

Members of our Wine Club and certain Legacy Members (such as Inaugural Purchasers of our first 1993 vintage) receive special pricing on wines ordered through our website. Also, some limited release, library, and pre-release wines are available only to customers who have elected to join our Wine Club or are Legacy Members. To receive the discount and gain access to purchase special wines, be sure to log in to the website before placing your order. The website will automatically give you access to all wines and apply any available discounts prior to your being asked to finalize your order.

At the present time, Snowden can legally ship wine directly to purchasers in the following states: Arizona, California, Colorado, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and Washington.  Occasionally specific counties within these states may prohibit the sale or shipment of alcoholic beverages. If you specify an address in one of those counties whenyou order wine, our website will not complete the order.  At the present time, we cannot legally ship wine directly to purchasers in the following states: Alaska, Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

Direct-shipping laws change frequently and this list is subject to change at any time without notice. We reserve the right, in our sole discretion, to decline to complete a shipment if we believe it would expose us to legal or regulatory risk, even to an address in a state listed above. If we decline a shipment on this basis, we will contact you to discuss alternatives, which may include shipping to an address in another state where direct shipment is permitted, or arranging storage of the wine with an acceptable third-party storage facility.  Unfortunately, as a very small wine producer, we lack the resources to qualify to ship to every possible state – and we will only ship to states where we're legally qualified. If you live in a state in which we have not qualified and would like us to consider doing so, please let us know. We'll always explore qualification and, if it's feasible, move ahead with new states.

We do not currently ship wine outside the United States.

If you are planning a visit to the Napa Valley, instead of having your order shipped, you can pick the wine up at our office in St. Helena. For pick-up orders, the price of the wine will be the same, there is of course no shipping charge, but California sales taxes will apply. To place an order for pick-up when purchasing through our website, on the Checkout page, select "pick-up." Or feel free to contact us by phone at (707) 963-4292 or by email at office@snowdenvineyards.com to arrange for local pickup or delivery.

Our wine shipments must be received and signed for in person by an adult who is 21 years of age or older. If an adult is not available to receive and sign for a wine delivery, most shippers will attempt delivery two more times. Whenever possible, we recommend that wine be shipped to a commercial business address to ensure the availability of an adult to receive the shipment when delivery is attempted. This is especially important in warmer areas because the wine may not be properly stored by the shipper while waiting for the next attempt to deliver.  Some states have adopted special restrictions, such as limits on the amount of wine a resident may purchase during a given period of time. We endeavor to track the amount of wine we ship to a given purchaser but cannot ensure that a specific individual has met all requirements imposed on purchasers by his or her home state. Please comply with the requirements imposed on you under your state's laws.

To what kinds of addresses can wine be delivered?

Shipments must go to street addresses which refer to a geographic location. We cannot ship to post office boxes or to military FPO or APO addresses. Again, we recommend the use of a commercial business address whenever possible to ensure the availability of an adult to receive the shipment.

Shipping carriers and modes

When you move into the "checkout" process, you will be asked to select the carrier and mode of shipping. The website will usually propose Federal Express Ground as the "default" carrier and mode, however, for most states, you will be offered a selection of two or more carriers — currently FedEx, UPS, and, where available, GSO — and, for each carrier there will usually be a choice of shorter and longer delivery times, with corresponding variations in shipping charges.

To comply with state laws, it is necessary for legal title to the wines you are purchasing to transfer from us to you when the wines are delivered to the designated carrier in California. That means the risk of loss or damage to the wines during transit — whether from hot or cold weather, mishandling, or other causes — falls on the purchaser once the wine is handed to the carrier. We are not responsible for, and will not replace, wine that is damaged during shipment due to weather conditions or other causes outside our control. We attempt to time shipments to minimize weather concerns, and may hold an order for a period of time if we believe shipping conditions are unfavorable. If you wish expedited shipping in a mode that you don't see offered, have other questions about our shipping practices, or believe your shipment has been damaged during transit, please contact us within 48 hours of delivery so that we can pursue a claim with the carrier — carriers generally require damage claims to be filed within a short window of delivery, and we cannot guarantee recovery on claims reported later than that.

Once a package has been delivered by the carrier, we are not responsible for loss, theft, or improper storage of the wine.

Order changes and cancellations

If you need to change or cancel an order, please contact us as soon as possible at (707) 963-4292 or office@snowdenvineyards.com. We will do our best to accommodate changes or cancellations made before the order has shipped, but cannot guarantee a change once an order has entered the fulfillment process.

If a wine you want is sold out or on allocation

Some of our wines, particularly limited release, library, and pre-release bottlings, are produced in small quantities and may sell out or be limited to an allocation per customer. If a wine becomes unavailable after you've placed an order, we will contact you to arrange a substitution, a partial shipment, or a refund for the unavailable portion of your order.

Shipping charges

Our shipping charges are based on the estimated average charges by our contract fulfillment service for deliveries by the designated carrier and mode to addresses located in your state, and include the cost of packaging materials. Snowden does not add a handling fee or additional markup to the shipping charges beyond these pass-through costs. We have selected our fulfillment service with the goal of providing prompt, quality shipping services at competitive prices.

Shipping timeline

Orders will normally ship within a few days of being placed, although we may delay shipment if we believe it will reduce the risk of damage from heat, cold, or other specific hazards. All orders placed through our website will be shipped from Napa, California. The time from shipment to delivery will vary according to the carrier and mode which you have selected for your order. You should receive an automatic email when your order is received and again when it ships. Delivery times may occasionally be affected by circumstances outside our control, including severe weather, natural disasters, and carrier delays. If you would like assistance tracking the progress of your order or if your estimated delivery date is particularly time sensitive, feel free to contact us.

To contact us regarding orders and shipping questions

Our office phone number is (707) 963-4292 and the email address is office@snowdenvineyards.com. Our office hours are normally 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM (Pacific Standard or Daylight Time), Monday through Thursday. You may call during those hours to speak with our office manager, or leave a message at any time and we will return the call as soon as possible. If you have questions or input regarding the use of our website, you can contact us by going to "Us" on the main menu bar on our website and selecting "Contact Us" from the drop-down, or by emailing to info@snowdenvineyards.com.