Wine bottles from friends

[Rocky]

I just wanted to see what you guys and gals do in return for wine bottles from friends. I have several people, friends and neighbors, who save wine bottles for me. I get the feeling in some cases that they expect a full bottle of wine for every bottle they give! If a person has a case or two of empties for me, I will give them a bottle, maybe two. What do you all do?

I am not a cheap person by nature, but they are really giving me something that they are going to throw away anyhow. I clean and de-label them, sort through them looking for defects, pitch the screw tops and "painted on" labels, etc. Wine making is not the hardest thing in life, but it does take time, money and work. Just wondering what seems fair to you all. Thanks.

 

[robie]

I have had several friends save bottles for me. I have never had even one of them in any way suggest or hint they want anything in return. They save bottles for me because they are my friends.

 

[millwright01]

I mentioned to some friends to rinse and save corked bottles for me and give them a bottle for every couple cases. A couple of them even soak labels off so they get some bonus bottles once in a while! It costs me $6 a case at the recycle depot so I don't mind giving out a few bottles of my wine.

 

[jswordy]

A bottler of wine every now and then greases the wheels. If I felt someone wanted a full bottle for every empty, I would just tell them I have gathered enough bottles and don't need any more.

 

[Julie]

I offer a bottle of wine for every case someone gives me but they cannot be any screw top bottles nor engraved wineries on the bottle. To be honest I have very few friends who take me up on this, they just thnk I should give them a bottle of wine everytime they stop at the house.

 

[tonyt]

I have several family members save bottles for me. I give a lot of wine away to my family whether they save bottles for me or not. I am more generous with the ones that save me bottles but not necessarily when they deliver (yes deliver) the bottles. NONE of them have ever implied any expectation. They know that I am picky about the bottles being Bordeaux style, dark, punted and cleaned by them immediately after emptying the bottles. As I said I am generious with all of them and they appreciate it and accommodate my bottle pickiness. They are also very good about returning my bottles. Big, loud, thrifty Italian family.

 

[vacuumpumpman]

I tell people if they dont return my original bottle back clean that there will be no more exchanges. I had an issue where a close friend did not give me my original bottles back and thought what is the difference if I give him the same amount of bottles back . WRONG ! I took all the time to remove the labels and pick out the bottles that I personally like. Sorry for rambling - It is a pet piev for me

 

[pioneergirl]

I just wanted to see what you guys and gals do in return for wine bottles from friends. I have several people, friends and neighbors, who save wine bottles for me. I get the feeling in some cases that they expect a full bottle of wine for every bottle they give! If a person has a case or two of empties for me, I will give them a bottle, maybe two. What do you all do?

I am not a cheap person by nature, but they are really giving me something that they are going to throw away anyhow. I clean and de-label them, sort through them looking for defects, pitch the screw tops and "painted on" labels, etc. Wine making is not the hardest thing in life, but it does take time, money and work. Just wondering what seems fair to you all. Thanks.

I totally get it. To expect a full bottle of wine for every empty bottle they give you uncleaned,etc...makes me laugh. I have not graduated to this level yet....

Personally, I would tell the people that you suspect have these high expectations to stop collecting for you; you have enough. Continue to collect from the friends who really just don't mind saving them for you to bring them over in bulk. Or, for both types of personalities, how about announcing that in return for their donated bottles you will throw a tasting party and invite all the friends that donated bottles? Do it twice a year or once a year?

What about people returning empty bottles to you that you gave them with your home made wine? How is that handled? Is it like canning jars? If they don't return that bottle, do they not get any more wine?

 

[Rocky]

Thank you all for your input. I love this forum for the incredible thoughts I get from you all. I guess I am not being too stingy in giving a bottle for a case or two. I am building up a better supply so I will be able to be a little freer with the wine. I really appreciate your views.

 

[ibglowin]

I actually have one couple that drops by bottles 2-3 times a year. ~2 cases each time. The wife actually de-labels them and soaks them in oxyclean. They really only need sanitizing they are that clean. I give them 6 bottles twice a year.

I love not having to do a darn thing to those bottles!

 

[Flem]

How much do you give the wife for her effort? (Wine, that is! LOL)

 

[Wade E]

I tell people if they dont return my original bottle back clean that there will be no more exchanges. I had an issue where a close friend did not give me my original bottles back and thought what is the difference if I give him the same amount of bottles back . WRONG ! I took all the time to remove the labels and pick out the bottles that I personally like. Sorry for rambling - It is a pet piev for me

Im with you on that!! Awhile ago I gave a friend a case of assorted bottles and like 7 months later he came over with a case of empties. They were all commercial bottles, 1/2 screw caps and the rest were those really weird very wide top (flared top?) white wine bottles were a shrink capsule (even the large 1's) wont come close top fitting. Where the heck are the bottles I gave you that were all similar and commercial labels scraped off? My label;s arent the greatest as far as staying on if chilled on a summer day where the bottle sweats and the label runs or would come off but thats what I like about them, they freakin come off without breakin a sweat!

 

[garymc]

I haven't given it that much thought. I expect to be giving grapes and wine to friends and relatives anyhow. I think I'm going to start getting them from a local winery that pitches them after use in the tasting room or cafe because I'll have some uniformity on how tall the bottles are.

 

[ibglowin]

That deserves a rimshot for sure......

How much do you give the wife for her effort? (Wine, that is! LOL)

 

[SarahRides]

I have a neighbor who gives me about a case of bottles a week (he works as the cook at a biker bar down the street), I usually give them a bottle of almost everything I make, which hasn't been A LOT yet because I'm still aging a lot, but they have loved what I've given them!

 

[jswordy]

Allow me to add to my earlier post. I have found that many people who get free wine have no concept of how much WORK goes into making it. They are perhaps used to being modern consumers only, going to the store and plunking down $4.50 for a bottle and never giving it a second thought as they toss the bottle in the trash afterward.

I do always ask for my bottles back when giving wine, especially since I live in a place where mass sources of used commercial bottles are tightly controlled. The folks who do not comply do not get any more wine.

Then I have the opposite problem, too, of people literally handing me $10 a bottle and expecting me to sell it to them. I have a lot of folks offering me money. I have to carefully explain that I can't do that, it's a felony. The usual response is, well who will know? Or well then, start a wine business. If only it were that easy!