Need assistance with wine selection...

My sister-in-law is getting married in February and asked for help selecting a red and white for her reception. The options are below. The venue is charging $55-$60/bottle for base tier and $80-$85 for high tier.
Which red and which white would you choose? (I think the only wine on the list that I’ve had is the Tempranillo.)


WINE SELECTIONS
Base Tier
Matteo Braidot Pinot Grigio, Italy
Black Cabra Cabernet, Argentina
Babich Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough, New Zealand
Austerity Chardonnay, Arroyo Seco, CA
Gouguenheim, Valle Escondido Mendoza Merlot, Argentina
Matthew Fritz Pinot Noir North Coast, CA
Hedges CMS White, Sauvignon Blanc, Washington

Mid Tier
Adelsheim Pinot Gris, Willamette Valley, OR
Imagery Cabernet Sauvignon, Sonoma, CA
Pecina Rioja Cosecha Tinto, Spain
Charles Krug Sauvignon Blanc, Napa Valley
Baileyana Chardonnay, Firepeak VY, Edna Valley, CA
Singing Tree Chardonnay, Russian River Valley, CA
Storm Point, Chenin Blanc, Western Cape, South Africa
Schug Coast Pinot Noir, Sonoma, CA

High Tier
Justin Girardin Pinot Noir 2016, Bourgogne, Macon Villages, France
Justin Girardin Vire Clesse 2016, Macon Villages, France
Cultivar Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley, CA
Condado De Haza Crianza, Tempranillo, Spain
Adelsheim Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley, OR
Thomas La Pierrier Sancerre, France

Grim list…

If forced to choose from it, I’d go with the Pecina or Adelsheim Pinot and Sancerre or Vire Clesse.

Austerity is a pretty ironic name for a Napa chard.

Congrats in the upcoming wedding! There isn’t a ton to choose from on this list except the Pecina. That’s a great bottle of wine!

(Yes, I have proudly sold this wine for years )

Did the venue representative wear a black mask, when presenting this list?
My suggestion would be the 2019 Elopement.

Any option of bringing in your own wine? At theses prices you could do so much better at nearly any wine shop. These look to be double list price or so.

I don’t think so. I know the list is horrible, and the wines are much more than double list price.
The venue is a pricey little boutique hotel, so I’m surprised they don’t have a better selection…

Find a better venue. If you get treated like this before they have your money, imagine how they will treat you once you have paid and are stuck via sent invitations.

It’s not my wedding.

That is a blessing.

At those prices, Gouge-enheim seems appropriate.

I’d tell her none are very good selections but the wedding is not about the wine anyway so save a few bucks and go with the base selections. They might even appeal to non-wine drinkers. The Pinot Noir and throw a dart at the whites.

I would certainly ask the hotel if they would let you supply the wine in exchange for a corkage fee.

Are the wines for just dinner or for beforehand as well? What about bubbles (Cava before dinner).

No vintages cited. (Maturity of the red would be a factor) .

Puckering up and looking past the pricing (they look bad in Can $ and awful in US) both OR Pinots would be Ok. Agree on the Macon. Sancerre also, but not every one likes SB. Don’t know the producer but the SA Chenin should be tatsty and good food wine. Tempranillo (again don’t know the producer) would be good middle of the road dinner red.

Babich SB is good stuff

Yeah, I’d get the Babich SB because it’s in the lower price tier and is a crowdpleaser. Then I might go with Condado de Haza for a red to have an actual good wine available (it is), and probably Schug PN for people who don’t know the difference and want something familiar for a red.

People on this forum always get worked up about this type of list and pricing, as if they don’t realize it’s very common (do they really not know that?). Depending on the size of the group, they might be okay with bringing in a wine that’s not on that list for this event. You’d probably have to use the distributor(s) they work with (likely only one distributor), and pricing wouldn’t be any better, but at least there’d be more options. Or just don’t worry about it and make some selections from this. Most people don’t know or care about good wine. It will literally make no difference to almost all attendees, and any wine snobs in the group can drink beer.

Charles Krug Sauvignon Blanc is really, really good. I’ve had it in about 5 of the last 10 vintages, and it’s a revelation.

At the low end, Gougenheim Malbec is better than OK.

Adelsheim Pinot is a wonderful classic, but at almost 4X retail…

Agreed, ask to bring your own for corkage. They probably won’t let you, but if they do you would come out ahead in terms of wine quality even at $25 - 50 a bottle.

Dan Kravitz

As suggested check into the corkage fee.

In MN it is law that all venues allow guests to bring wine in but they try and prevent one with a corkage fee. Even if the fee is $25 you are saving a ton on the taxes/gratuity.

Ask what other options they have.

They may have wines outside of their banquet wine list they will sell in the same price range which don’t have such a big premium.

The wedding party is presumably spending plenty of money on other things - food, venue, etc.