Birth Year Wines: Who Are They For?

WINE TALK
1

With a kid on the way, I’ve started to think about birth-year wines, even though wines from this year won’t be available for another couple. There seem to be two schools of thought: (1) buy the wines for the kids, and (2) buy the wines for the parents. I have to admit I am skeptical of just how interested an 18 or 21-year-old kid will be in these old wines. And I get the sense that a lot of people use the birth year thing as an excuse to go hog wild on a bunch of expensive wine they would not otherwise be able to justify.

So does anyone have any practical thoughts to offer? Does anyone’s kids even want the wine? Who is drinking them, and when?

2

I’ve done many things with my sons’ birthyear wines 1989 and 1991: drink at birthdays, wedding anniversaries, graduations, etc. I also sold some to help pay for law school after asking my older son the best use. Luckily both had decent years, and you get to follow the development of the wines through the years without backtalk! Mike

3

There is no way to know whether the kid will grow up to be an adult who will be interested in wine. Obviously, it’s being done for the parents’ sake; whether the kid likes the idea a few decades down the road is something that you can’t know upfront.

Bruce

4

My kids are grown now and neither is geeky about wine, but none of us will ever forget a Thanksgiving dinner at which I opened a bottle from each of their birth years. The wines were great, but that was beside the point. It was my talking about what was going on in the world the year they were born, the impact their arrival had on me, and how proud I was about the adults they had become. Lots of laughter, lots of tears. It was definitely worth it.

5

The birth year wines I have in my cellar are for sharing with my son. 18th/21st b’days, graduation(s), 1st house, marriage, grandkids; the specific times will present themselves!

I only wish I had more, but there’s still time…

6

[winner.gif]

7
  1. From a drinking perspective. Definitely, me and hopefully my kids.
  2. From a selling perspective (I have some for my son that have already gotten dumb), my kids
8

+1. This is what I have in mind (and hope some version of this comes to fruition!). Getting teary just thinking about it, but I’m a sap.

Re: funds: I think it’s possible to not go “hog wild” as there are a lot of very age-able wines in the moderate price category, though I’m sure sticking with the expensive stuff is nice if you can swing it.

9

My hope is that they get opened when my daughter gets married (assuming she does) or at some other milestone event in her life.

More likely, they’ll get opened by me in her mid-teens to help me cope with dealing with a teenage daughter…

10

You buy them and hope you don’t need them until after the teen years. [help.gif]

11

My son likes wine… but isn’t over the top about it. He’s a craft beer guy.

but he still talks with very fond memories about the two 1991 magnums we had at his birthday dinner at Delmonicos the weekend of his 21st birthday in Vegas.

Of course, he has even better memories of the rest of the weekend and will NEVER tell his Mom about it. Good kid.