Gift · birth
Wine as a new baby gift: for the parents, the grandparents, a colleague
A baby doesn't drink wine, and that is exactly the idea: wine given for a birth is either for the parents, for now, or for the child, for eighteen years' time. Who is giving decides which. Here is what is done depending on where you stand, and what it costs.
Depending on who is giving
The grandparents
The gift that waits: a case of the birth-year vintage, to open on their eighteenth birthday. Or a case that spells out their first name, one château per letter.
The godfather, the godmother
A magnum from the birth year, with a card written now. The wine for the christening is counted separately: see the christening page.
Close friends
A bottle of champagne for the first quiet evening, when the mother can raise a glass too. Nobody thinks of the parents; they remember it.
Colleagues
The team collection: a ready-to-drink bottle for the parents and a small one to keep for the child, with a signed card. 15 colleagues at €8 makes €120.
For the parents or for the child
| For the parents | For the child | |
|---|---|---|
| When to open it | In the coming weeks | On their eighteenth birthday, or later |
| Which wine | Champagne, or a ready-to-drink Bordeaux | A classified growth, a great Saint-Émilion, a Sauternes |
| Which vintage | It doesn't matter, as long as it is ready | The birth year, or a great neighbouring year |
| Which format | The bottle | The magnum, which ages more slowly |
| Usual budget | €30–60 | €60–150 a bottle |
Indicative ranges, exact prices in the quote. What lasts eighteen years and how to store it: see the birth wine to keep 18 years page.
The birth-year vintage is not in bottle yet
A child born in 2026 has their vintage in the vats: the 2026 Bordeaux come out in bottle in 2028. Three ways to go about it. Give a great year already in bottle now (2019, 2020, 2022), and say so on the card. Give a voucher for the bottle, and hand it over when it exists. Or choose another year that matters: the parents' birth year, the year they met, the year they married. The birth-year vintage page says what each year is worth.
The whole family at once
When births follow one another, some families keep one case per child, from the same château or the same appellation, each from its own year. The family cellar page works it out. For the celebration itself, drinks or a baby shower, see birth and baby shower.
Which wine to give for a birth?
For the parents, a bottle of champagne or a ready-to-drink Bordeaux, €30–60. For the child, a wine for laying down from their birth year, to open on their eighteenth birthday: a Médoc classified growth, a great Saint-Émilion or a Sauternes, ideally in magnum.
Is giving wine to a new mother inappropriate?
Not if the gift waits. A bottle for later, or for both parents when the mother can drink it, is a thoughtful gift. Less so: a bottle to open straight away, with nothing for her.
How much should you spend on a birth bottle?
€30–60 for a bottle for the parents, €60–150 for a bottle to keep for the child, €200 and up for a case. A magnum costs about two bottles plus 10%.
What if you don't know whether the parents have a cellar?
Give a wine that can cope with waiting in a cool cupboard, and say so on the card: lying down, in the dark, away from the kitchen. A Sauternes is the most forgiving of all. For other ideas by budget: which wine to give.
Birth gift mistakes
- A bottle for keeping from a weak year. The birth vintage is not always great; in a light year, take a great neighbouring year and write down why.
- Forgetting the card. In eighteen years, nobody will remember who gave the bottle.
- A rosé or a light white for the child. They won't last eighteen years; keep them for the parents.
A case of the year, a magnum, a first name to spell out? Ask for a quote giving the birth year and the budget.