Have bought birth year sauternes to toast at their weddings, in lieu of champagne
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I’ve done the same. Fortunately, for my son, he’s a 2001
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I absolutley love the idea of birth-year wines and have gone super deep for both of my kids (2010 and 2012) across many regions and types of wines. I have also stocked up on birth-year bottles for my wife, my mom, and myself, and its always a treat to open one together
Worst case scenario with my kids, they don’t drink and i end up opening the wines myself and raising a glass to them, my amazing wife for doing a wondeful job raising both children, and celebrating how incredibly fortunate we are as a family 
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I never did, probably because I was poor when my son was born. We went from dual income, living the lifestyle, to my paltry income, and a new partnership capital contribution! The good news is, Nick, a 1998 baby, is really getting into wine. And I love that vintage for Pomerol. I have some great stuff to pop with him now! And can actually afford the stuff. It certainly makes for a lot of fun, I’m glad you guys were able to pre-plan this.
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56, me, too, likely worst year of the century worldwide, though I’m told there are some decent Tokays.
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Any suggestions for 64 that wont break the bank? Unlike a bunch of other backfills I have done, (62,73,75) 64 is a stronger vintage- lots of good options across bordeaux, burgundy, rioja, etc. but also strong pricing. Tondonia for 1k+ for example
I am a 64 too. My main interest has been Barolo and Barbaresco. Many good options are still available starting under $200.
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For Bordeaux, do your homework. Best results are the chateaus that picked early before the rains
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Have had good success with no name 64s as well under $100, speaking to strength of the vintage
One of my nephews was gifted 2 6-pks of 1991 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Ermitage 'Cuvee Cathelin that his dad purchased for roughly $80 per bottle. The first 6 were consumed over time (one bottle every five years) and the rest are probably too valuable to drink and will make a nice downpayment on a house once sold.
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thought you were kidding till I checked w-s.
I would imagine finding a buyer might be the sticking point.
I got the call to head over for the 3rd bottle at age 15. Enjoyed
a half glass and then drove the 30 miles home happy!
While on paternity leave in 1994, I received a call from my editor at the WineEnthusiast telling me that Mouton Rothschild owner, Philippine de Rothschild was planing to come to the offices and then lunch. As Bordeaux expert, would I like to come. Of course, I would.
I sat next to her at lunch, and she asked about my son, Philip. When she heard the name she became very excited, and talked about her family, her father Phillipe, her mother, who died in a concentration camp, Philippine, her son Phillipe and of course herself. She leaned over to her assistant and said, “make sure we get a case of Mouton 1994 to the child.”
And that was it. I never heard anything. When Philip was ten, I bought him a case, and we opened a bottle every birthday, after he reached the age of eighteen. He loves the story, and the wine.
I bought a fair amount of 1994 Port, but he has yet to develop a taste for it. So a little mixed, but definitely I got a good deal of pleasure out of the Mouton. I will probably need another case, as this one is running low.
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No children, but nephews born in 1977 and 1981. The older nephew is not really into wine, but he and the whole family love the 1977 ports we open on his birthdays. The younger nephew probably has more wine than I do now, although it’s too expensive to purchase some of the wines from 1981 that we enjoyed -Lafite magnum, Krug, Petrus (which wasn’t that great and we sold the last three bottles for his college fund). I now have a grandniece (2017) and grandnephew (2019) and each has around 55 bottles spread around what from their vintage would last at least 20 years (primarily Port, German, Huet, Bordeaux). The grandniece already enjoys her Riesling and I suspect all the wines will be enjoyed either by the recipient or other members of the family.
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My kids are 2000 and 2003. Never thought about birth year wines til recently. Younger one doesn’t like wine, but older one does a little. Friend of wine is giving me a bottle (2003 Bordeaux and 2000 Barolo I believe) for each to open next year on their birthdays ; they will be 24 and 21.
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I opened a bunch of 1983s for my 40th last month, but never purchased birth year wines way in advance. I had a pretty rough run at it
Lynch-Bages - TCA
Maculan Palazzoto - beyond oxidized
Ducru-Beaucaillou - oxidized
Montrose - Decent
Cos d’Estournel - At first it wasnt doing much for me. Day 2 I brushed over it. My wife enjoyed a small glass. Day 3 I was busy and forgot it was there. Day 4 - Happy I did not dump it. Never would have expected this, but it was much better on day 4 than days 1-2. If you open one, give it PLENTY of air.
My wife’s bday is 9 days after mine, and the real success was when we opened these 2 gems below.
1983 Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco
1988 Castello di Ama Chianti Classico Vigneto Bellavista
IG Post at the link here. Going to save my only other bottle of the 1983 PdB for my 50th!
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as someone who doesnt have kids, I always kind of pictured that most people really should imagine that theyre buying birth year wines for themselves first and their kids hopefully. Thats spoken as someone who didnt drink a sip of alcohol until I was 27, and now here I am. but it’s totally acceptable for parents to drink their kids birth year wines IMO- especially considering almost every parent I know of would call their kids one of their greatest accomplishments- and thats always something thats worth celebrating. in our DINKWAD house, that is what we buy commemorative wines for: high school and college grad years, buying a house, paying off student loans… why not birthing your kid?
for birth year wines that my wife and I have opened, we’ve had a few notable successes- the wine that made us real wine drinkers was a 1986 Ch Canon on my wife’s 30th birthday. we’ve opened some birth year riesling for friends that was stunning. most recently, some of the 1986 Ravenswoods from Once and Future have been huge hits at birthday parties for my wife.
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This is an excellent observation. My anniversary is 1997, but I met my wife in 1994 and our first date was in 1995. Off to check Winebid…
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anything can be a celebration if you open the right wine with the right people!
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Our son was born in 1994 and our daughter in 1997. We bought some California Cabs and Vintage Port, with a few Sauternes for our daughter to commemorate their birth years. Our son prefers red wine and our daughter prefers white wine. We were so happy to share a 1994 Montelena with our son, and a 1997 Climens with our daughter, shortly after they turned 21. They really enjoyed it, and appreciated that we had bought these bottles for them. They were very enjoyable days. Both are not really into wine at this point, but we will keep the bottles that we have, in case they change their mind. It may be time to open a Port this month to see if they like them!
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