Retirement · drinks and gift
Wine for a retirement: the leaving drinks, and the bottle that matters
A retirement means two purchases that have nothing to do with each other. The drinks: forty colleagues, an hour and a half standing at the end of the day, sparkling and white, fifteen or so bottles nobody will look at. And the gift: a single bottle, carefully chosen, often from the year they were hired or born, that will be looked at for a long time.
The wine for the drinks
Set for 40 colleagues, an hour and a half standing, 85% drinkers: drinks among adults at the end of the day get through more than a family party, and there are few children in an open-plan office.
Two purchases, two logics
The drinks
Two and a half glasses per drinker, sparkling for the speech, white and rosé afterwards. For 34 drinkers, around fifteen bottles before rounding; the calculator shows 24 because it rounds each colour up to the case of 6.
Here, the “decent” level is enough. People drink standing up, they talk, they look at the person leaving, not at the label. Crémant does the speech very well; champagne, if the department's budget allows.
The gift
It is the opposite: one bottle, time to find it, and a story to tell as you hand it over. The year they were hired is the most moving; the birth year the most classic; a great recent vintage in magnum the safest.
A collection from 40 colleagues at €5 each makes €200: enough to buy a classified growth from the hiring year for someone who joined in the 1990s, or a magnum of a great recent vintage. The birth year vintage page says what each year is still worth.
The bottle from the year they were hired
Someone retiring in 2026 was often hired between 1985 and 2000. In Bordeaux, that period is generous: 1985, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1995, 1996, 1998 on the Right Bank, 2000. Almost one year in two is great, and the classified growths of those vintages can still be found at reasonable prices.
| Year hired | What the vintage is worth | Price range, classified growth |
|---|---|---|
| 1985, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1990 | Great years, ready to drink now, still available from wine merchants | €80 to €250 |
| 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1997 | Weak or average years: give the birth year instead, or a recent magnum | not advised |
| 1995, 1996, 1998, 2000 | Great years, in their drinking window, easier to find | €60 to €200 |
| 2001 to 2010 | Good to great, under thirty years old: perfect in magnum for the retiree's cellar | €40 to €150 |
Indicative ranges, on quote. For weak years, the what wine to give page suggests alternatives by budget; the leaving gift tool turns the collection into a bottle.
How many bottles for leaving drinks for 40 people?
About fifteen before rounding for an hour and a half: two cases of sparkling, one of white, one of rosé once rounded. If the drinks run on into the evening, allow one more bottle for every three people for each extra hour. The calculator adjusts to your headcount and length.
Who pays for the wine at leaving drinks?
The drinks are usually paid for by the employer or the department, the gift by a collection among colleagues. Two invoices, two logics: the corporate event page details the business invoice, payment terms and what is deductible.
What wine should you give a colleague who is retiring?
A bottle from the year they were hired, if it is a good vintage; otherwise from their birth year; otherwise a magnum of a great recent vintage they will open in ten years. With a card signed by everyone: the card is what they will keep, the bottle gets drunk.
Champagne or crémant for the speech?
For department drinks, crémant does the toast very well and costs half as much; it is possible on request. Champagne is available if the budget allows. Either way, six flutes per bottle and a single round: two cases for forty people.
Leaving drinks mistakes
- Buying the drinks and the gift in the same place at the same time. The drinks are ordered the week before; the gift is searched for two months before, especially for an old vintage.
- Red at the drinks. At 6 pm, standing, in a meeting room, nobody wants it. A case of white instead.
- A gift from a weak year. A 1992 given “because it's the year” will disappoint when opened. Look at the vintage before you look at the date.
Longer drinks, a different headcount? The general calculator does the same calculation with no preset. Do the figures work? Request a quote, and give the year you are looking for for the gift. A colleague changing jobs rather than retiring? The leaving drinks page counts for thirty and chooses the bottle from the year they joined. For the cellar you start with your free time, see starting a cellar in retirement.