if you are looking for wines that you can age and have the highest chance of still being viable in 30 to 40 years then I’d say Bordeaux. Port also if it’s a declared vintage. What are the odds that your child will bet looking for 30 year old champagne when it’s time to celebrate the special life moments ?
For $10K you can put together 2 very nice mixed cases of age worthy wine. I"d do 3 and 3 of something like Mouton and Margaux. If you buy en primeur could probably grab for around $500 per. Then 6 packs of things like LLC, Montrose, Trotanoy and VCC. Maybe fit LaMission in there. All domaines that have a long history of ageing well.
I wasn’t too intentional about socking away some birth year wines, but do enjoy opening them for my 20-somethings. They would definitely not be interested right now in receiving (and then storing) 1-2 cases, so there was no 21st birthday ceremonial hand-off. They do however appreciate occasional single bottle gifts for their own celebrations.
I may disagree with some folks here about cost. I suggest not spending (much) more per bottle than you normally would for special occasion bottles. So if you already open $400-500 bottles at least occasionally, then definitely buy some $500+ for your special vintage. But if in this example your special occasion wine is defined as $150, then I’d focus on the great, long-lasting wines that you can get for <$250 or even <<$250. Obviously that’s simple with Port and Riesling, pretty easy with Bordeaux or Piedmont, and difficult with Burgundy. YMMV.
I’d also purchase a few wines at a price point that’s not “special” for you. For me, recently, that’s meant opportunities to open a '95 BAMA during a random visit that one son squeezed in, or a '96 Leoville Barton for another son’s visit that was two months after his birthday. Those occasions didn’t call for a 3-liter festival or wine-centric meal, but it was still fun to open birth year wines.
I looked at it from several angles: what I like and want to drink on their birthdays, what I think they may want when they become of age, and like a 529. Definitely buy something for the next few years to drink when they are growing up. The rest is up to your budget, cellar etc. I took a big load and sold for college/graduate school at the bequest of my 2 sons (let them decide!) Lots of 1989/1991 champagne drunk/sold and none left! Still have a bit more when they want to buy a house and need a down payment (barolo/bordeaux/burgundy)! I even have some rieslings! It’s fun to see your kids grow and your cellar change. One with significant backtalk and one with premox. Such is life! Enjoy either way.
I have one 17 and one 20. Also took kind of a scatter approach based on the vintages themselves, but all over Bordeaux, Burg, Port, German Riesling, Cali reds and some of the early release grower champagnes for throughout the years. I also intentionally went with a lot of magnums, so that extended family dinners may be possible.
Btw my kids were born in 1996 and 2000. I was really proud that they chose such good vintages to enter the world - shows a kind of preternatural wine wisdom . So I have more than a little wine from their birth years and it’s fun to open those bottles with them now. We don’t make that big a deal out of it, but my son for sure loved the 1996 Krug we opened to celebrate his college graduation.
For my oldest, I purchased Lafite, Latour and Margaux futures, year 2000. She’s 22 now, and doesn’t drink. As difficult as it was for me, I told her she should sell them at auction and invest the money. She’s an investment banker at JPM and thinks like an investor, not a drinker!
I have the view that wine is my hobby and if am very honest it is for my own pleasure. It doesn’t mean that I don’t find meaning and pleasure in sharing that passion of course.
With that in mind I have bought every birth year wine based on what I personally like but quite varied, focused on varieties/regions I love like Nebbiolo (a lot!), Riesling, Friuli, Croatian wines, etc.
I want to be able to open them at special occasions but not limited to it. It is something that also reminds my kids that their birth is something very special (to me/us) and my 6 year old son already gets excited and proud when I open a wine from his vintage.
At some point he will be excited to try but who knows what kids will like, if they even like wine.
I am nonetheless hoping that we can share many of the bottles together, and if it turns out they like wine then the cellar is as much theirs, with some exceptions ( ), for moments they feel are special.
Just my thoughts, but I’d mix it up and make a starter collection with variety vs only a couple of wines with $10k. 3 packs and a few 6ers of cabs, D’yquem, BDX, Champagne, Port, Burg, Riesling etc.
Very astutue comment. Although my son now has a small cellar of his own, with birth-year wines gifted to him, his smile is pretty big when I pull the cork on something I’ve held back instead of him depleting his.
Some great responses and stories above. With regards to Riesling, I can say that the 2022 vintage in the Clare Valley etc in Australia is turning out to be a cracking year - they’re mostly under screwcap, so should be long-lived.
One more thought: I bought a 6L bottle of birth year Sauternes (1989 Giraud) to cellar and serve at her wedding.
At the time, I didn’t consider the possibility that if it’s corked or otherwise flawed, it’s a much bigger disaster than if I’d bought multiple 750s and one or two were bad.
Nor did I consider that she might not want it served at her wedding. This actually happened. I couldn’t think of any other possible event where I could serve a 6L of Sauternes, so off it went to auction.
Great idea. If my daughter refuses the large formats i bought for her wedding day ,I’m rolling up with them anyway. Who would refuse a glass of aged sauternes!!!
That thought crossed my mind at the time, but it wouldn’t have fit with their well-thought-out plans. I quickly realized that the day was not really about me or wine and doing so would take the focus off of where it belonged.
. So I have more than a little wine from their birth years and it’s fun to open those bottles with them now. We don’t make that big a deal out of it, but my son for sure loved the 1996 Krug we opened to celebrate his college graduation.
As difficult as it was for me, I told her she should sell them at auction and invest the money. She’s an investment banker at JPM and thinks like an investor, not a drinker!
), for moments they feel are special.