I have a few hundred invested in a Fuji Aloha Tri bike. A retired chef has offered me two cases of fine wine plus another case of 6 magnum lesser quality wine. His claim of bottles worth $$$ make me wonder if that's the dining out price. He say's they are mostly from small vineyards.

If anyone with expertise could take a gander at my list please pm me.

Small vineyards?

It's unlikely we'd be familiar with them.

You might try an oenophile website, and ask about the vineyards there..

It doesn't sound like a bad deal to me, but then
it also depends on how good the wine is...

I was afraid of that. A local big lot store recognized a couple types / years as being within my normal cost $8 - $25 / bottle. If the list were really in the alleged $50 - $200 range I'd have to find some new friends who could appreciate sharing the wine. It'd also be an interesting turn of events if I started acquiring a taste for the pricey stuff just when it ran out.

If anyone would care to comment / see the list - please PM me.

Naw, I'm a Ketel One Vodka (Martini) type. Too many variables with wine. To me, wines are like women.

I prefer something stable, predictible, and of reliably high quality.


https://www.ketelone.com/

You don't need to spend a lot of money. Lots of good wine between 10-20 bucks. We get those for company.
Been getting 5-6 dollar bottles from Trader Joes lately. It's not the good stuff, but it's just fine to go with
a spaghetti or something.

Here's what I'd do:

Determine how much you spend on a bottle of wine, on average. Multiply that by the number of bottles you'd receive in the trade. That's how much you'd be getting for the bike.

Unless the wine is amazingly good or amazingly poor, that's probably a good estimate.

I know some wines - I'd be glad to do what I can, but no guarantees. If you want me to tell you authoritatively "I don't know," feel free to pm me the list

One thing is, you should be sure you are able to store them in a cool (cold is not required) place, if there are 30+ bottles involved. It'll be a challenge to drink it all. A dark basement corner should be good enough. A sunny bookshelf is not a good choice.

I like Trombone Al's idea.

I'd go to the library, pick up a wine spectator type rating magazine, and look them up.

In spite of the romance and/or hype of fine wines, much depends on the individual's palette.

Good luck.

Born in Napa Wine country, worked the Crush a few autumns ,
but the Bourgeoisie, took over the county, jacked up rents,
Lowered Labor's wages, so I left.

They are probably not worth what he claims OR he would sell them and buy the bike. Market value is market value.

Even the small vineyards can be quality depending on the region and grapes they grow. But the value to you described by Trombone Al's suggestion is a great system. I prefer some $12 Cabs over the $40s. Wine is about taste and purpose.

I can bungie a box of wine on my rear bike rack.... I need to get a front rack now....

I was leaning towards Trombone Al's approach but thought it would be a good way to check out wines I usually would not buy. So far most of the wine seems to be in the $10 - $!5 range making it a loss $ for $. I'd probably have done it but it turns out the chef wanted to meet about an hours trip away.

A potential cash buyer is overdue to arrive tonight. I should stick to refurbishing C&V bikes unless it's for my own stable.

Even if the wine is from a very small vineyard- If it is any good- then it will be a popular one- even if amongst a vey small clientelle.

I buy my wine when in France and I always try before I buy- but if the wine is good enough I buy by the case. If it doesn't suit my palate- then I WILL find something I do like.

But cost of the wine and I do have a limit of about $15 per bottle and it will have to be exceptional for me to pay that price. I mostly pay about $6 to $8 and I have surprised a few Wine loving friends with the quality of what I buy. I tell them that I only drink what I like- but so Far- it has to be a bad bottle of wine for the cork to go back in the bottle. And I do have a few of those down in the bike shed from "Friends" that have bought me a good bottle of wine as a present- because they know I like wine.

I got the bottom line on the wine. It's street price is about what I was asking for the bike. Even if I liked all the wine, it was in good condition, and I had sufficient storage space the trade wouldn't benefit me more than cash. A prospective tri athlete stopped by my office and paid cash for the bike today so I can concentrate on building my new Guerciotti and Kestrel frames.

Bartering can work out. I traded my Giant OCR3 for an Ipod last summer. We are both happy with the trade.

Congratulations. Every one is happy except the guy with the wine unless he's drinking it all up.

Well, the wine may be "worth" that amount. But it would probably be harder than heck to find a buyer for it. If he could, the chef would already of done it and payed you cash.

Also, for personal use, wine is only worth so much to me. My wife has been educating me on wine. I used to be happy drinking darn near anything. Now I have become discerning. Still I can find quite palatable wines for $12. It takes a little looking but they are there. Now, one finds palatable or very good wines much more common at the $30 range. That price range is about as "good" as I can really appreciate. The increase above that is beyond me.

Now quite a bit of wine stuff is sheer snobbery. I read how a guy with a little background in statistics started his own vineyard/winery. He entered contests. What bothered him is his results were so variable. He analyzed the results statistically and found that the awards with no discernable pattern: i.e. they did not very from chance. His rationale is that most of the judges do not know enough to tell good from bad.

The other thing is people tend to be highly influeced by the supposed price of a wine when they report the quality. You can take vin ordinaire and tell them it costs $$$$ and they will report it as very good. No one wants to look bad now do they?

I would say that I would prefer the money and if I want wines, I will buy em.

Now I get 5L wine in a box, Franzia, $14. when Empty I have a free plastic saddle cover .
good for the winter rains , for several years.

Congratulations, Rob!

Wine is like sex. When it's good it's great. When it's bad, it's still pretty good.

I like $10 wine, sometimes $12. Or anything from Italy

SB