Kamen Estate Wines — Attraction in Sonoma

I am writing to express my displeasure with my online purchase.

Their product is delicious, customer service is poor!

I placed this order on Saturday December 11th, understanding that it would not be shipped until Monday the 13th. This was not the case. It didn't ship until Wednesday the 15th. But now I'm learning through UPS that it didn't actually ship on the 15th, but rather, a label was created. UPS is indicating that it didn't get picked up until Thursday the 16th. I paid for 2-day shipping, so now it won't arrive until Monday the 20th. I wanted this delivery for Wednesday evening when my wife and were entertaining guests. I called and spoke with someone on Thursday who was no help at all. He basically told me that their shipping department is backed up and that's that. I never heard an apology, but I did hear that "it is what it is". Well, I thought to myself that at least I'll have the wine for the weekend. Well, no, I won't. Again, didn't get picked up until Thursday, paid for 2 business day shipping.

Kamen wine is not cheap. I am not a regular, but I do buy occasionally. We visited their tasting room in Sonoma in 2013 and immediately fell in love, but again, not cheap. So now add 2-day shipping on top of "not cheap". I really wish I hadn't bothered. When I spoke with this person on Thursday, I expected some sort of consolation. We regularly enjoy free express shipping with other wineries in Sonoma and Napa, even when mistakes aren't made. Everyone tries to make the best of situations, including myself. After I spoke with this gentleman from Kamen, I too said to myself, "oh well". But now I'm learning I won't have my shipment until Monday.

I am not happy with what seems to be a lack of caring on their part. They could make a statement on their website to set the expectations of customers. Let us know not to bother with expedited shipping. Let us know you're backed up. Don't just let us simply deal with your situation and accept what happens. And to take a step further, their website encourages expedited shipping, to this day,...

We stumbled upon this place by complete chance and we were met with surprise after surprise. Who knew about Kamen’s history ! Maybe people do but we certainly didn’t. It was really interesting to learn about his past - starting all the way back in india in kashmir and ending at where he did - a winning screenplay writer and certainly a winning Cabernet for us! This was the best Cabernet we had in the region. Not overpowering yet so complex. Mark herold is a magician with his winemaking and Kamen himself is a magician given everything he touches turns to gold! Great stop. Andi hosted us at the tasting room and was a great story teller! We would...

Loved the tasting room, the crazy stories of the owner/screen writer, and the wines. The wines are truly special and one should be prepared to pay a pretty penny for them. They are one of the best wines you will taste in Sonoma.

But we did not like that after ringing us for $450 of wine that we bought, the person behind the bar gave us a screen to sign where the lowest tip was 15% on the entire amount. We found that a little tacky. It is ok to add a tip on the tasting fee of $25. But to add a tip% for the entire amount of the wines we bought was something that we have not seen anywhere is Napa...