A bit of a wine from New York City

From the New York Times:

More Than a Flooded Cellar. A Vintage Mystery.
WineCare marketed itself as a high-security cellar that stores, catalogs and cares for 27,000 cases of wine in the basement of a Manhattan warehouse, charging substantial fees to safeguard collections worth tens of millions of dollars.

But there was one problem: the cellar was just 100 yards from the Hudson River. And when Hurricane Sandy struck, the water came rushing in.

Eight months later, WineCare has become the scene of one of the strangest stories to emerge from the storm, a classic Manhattan tale featuring boldfaced names, high-stakes legal battles and top-shelf luxury.

Shortly after the flooding, the owner sent customers a reassuring e-mail: �We believe at least 95% of the wine we are storing is fine.�

But since then, WineCare, which once offered a same-day delivery service from its warehouse in the Chelsea neighborhood, has steadfastly denied customers access to even a single bottle of Ch�teau Rayas Ch�teauneuf-du-Pape, Kistler chardonnay or Rousseau Chambertin.

Now, amid concern that century-old bottles have been spoiled or celebrated vintages rendered anonymous by lost labels, some of the city�s most prominent wine collectors � including Donald Drapkin, a hedge fund manager who estimated the value of his wine collection at $5.2 million � have sued WineCare, which is now in bankruptcy court.

What a choice for location. A bit more:

Meanwhile, Derek L. Limbocker, a onetime investment banker and society figure who founded WineCare and made it into one of the country�s largest wine-storage facilities, has publicly maintained that a vast majority of wine under his care is safe.

He did not return calls requesting comment.

But, under questioning at a creditors� meeting in March, Mr. Limbocker revealed that floodwaters and humidity lifted the labels off as many as 100 cases; cardboard boxes containing the wines disintegrated, and thousands of bottles broke as they were lugged up or down the stairwells of the warehouse.

Customers do not know the extent of the damage, because their repeated requests to view video from the round-the-clock, 16-channel surveillance system featured in the marketing materials have been denied.

�It�s the craziest thing I�ve ever seen,� said William C. Carmody, a trial lawyer who stored about 29 cases of wine at WineCare that he says are worth $104,000. �I�m still being charged a monthly fee. But you can never get a straight answer.�

He did not return calls requesting comment -- no shit Sherlock. I am betting that the losses are more like 95% than the quoted 5%. Flooding a basement with that much water is going to tear the place apart. I appreciate the desire for fast retrieval but locating a vault 100 yards from a River is not a good choice at all -- downright stupid...