Family · vow renewal, ten, twenty, thirty years on
Wine for a vow renewal: the quantities, and the vintage of the wedding year
Ten, twenty or thirty years on, you repeat the ceremony in front of sixty people close to you, raise a glass, have dinner, dance a little. The calculator sorts out the party: 72 bottles with this page's settings. The second half sorts out the bottle that matters, the one from the wedding year, and says what to do when that year was weak.
The calculation for 60 guests
Set for a drinks reception of an hour and a half after the vows, a seated dinner and two hours of party, 80% drinkers, so 48 people drinking wine. A lunch with no party: untick it, and the total falls to 54.
The bottle from the wedding year
A vow renewal has a reference date, and it's on the label. What counts isn't the age of the wine but the quality of the year in Bordeaux: a great year that's thirty years old drinks better than a weak year that's thirteen. Here is where the most common anniversaries fall.
| Married for | Wedding year | The vintage in Bordeaux | What to open |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 years | 2016 | Great year, still young. The great growths are only just starting to open up; the crus bourgeois and second wines are ready. | A 2016 cru bourgeois or second wine, decanted for an hour. Keep the great growth from the same year for the twentieth. |
| 13 years | 2013 | Weak year: cool summer, difficult harvest. Light wines, most of them long past their best time to drink. | The 2015, a great year two years away, or the 2014, a good year one year away. And 2013 written on the table card. |
| 15 years | 2011 | Average year, classic and a little austere. Drink now, without waiting. | A classified growth or a well-regarded cru bourgeois, opened within the year. |
| 20 years | 2006 | Good year, serious and tannic, long underrated. At its peak today. | A 2006 classified growth: now is the right time to open it. |
| 25 years | 2001 | Good year, fine and classic, in the shadow of 2000. | A 2001, or a 2000 right next to it if you want the great year. |
| 30 years | 1996 | Great year, superb Médoc, magnificent cabernets. Ready to drink. | A 1996 Médoc from a seller who knows the provenance. |
The table follows the scale of the birth-year vintage tool, which gives the verdict, the price range and the alternative for any year from 1945 to 2010; for a more recent wedding, the quote says what is available. For silver or golden anniversaries celebrated without a ceremony, the wedding anniversary page does the same job for 25 to 60 years.
How many bottles of wine for a vow renewal with 60 guests?
72 with this page's settings, so twelve cases: 18 red, 18 white, 12 rosé and 24 sparkling, 1.2 bottles per guest. Average consumption is 56 bottles, 62 with the 10% margin; the rest comes from rounding up to the case of six, colour by colour. Without the party, 54 bottles, nine cases.
How many bottles from the wedding year should you open?
Not sixty. A bottle gives six 12 cl glasses, or twelve half-glasses for tasting: for the 48 drinkers to taste it, four bottles are enough. Many couples open only one or two, at their table and the witnesses', and serve everyone else the dinner wine. Count €40 to €120 a bottle for a good year, €80 to €300 and more for a great old year; the actual price is set in the quote.
And if the wedding year was weak?
You don't open it in front of sixty people. 2013, 1997, 1991 to 1993, 1987 or 1984 gave light wines, most of them tired today. Three options: the nearest great year (2015 for 2013, 1996 for 1997, 1990 or 1995 for the early 1990s, 1986 for 1987, 1983 for 1984); a magnum from a safe vintage, with the wedding year written on the table card; or the birth year of the first child, if it's better. Up to 2010, the birth-year vintage tool suggests the neighbouring great year by itself.
What wine budget for a vow renewal?
For the 72 bottles in this setting: €978 at the decent level, €1,452 at the good level, €2,592 at grand cru level, so €16, €24 and €43 per guest. Add the bottle from the year: four bottles of a good old year come to €160 to €480, roughly what it costs to move the 18 dinner reds from the good level to great growth, €432. Of the two, it's the bottle from the year that people will remember.
Do you need a wine merchant for a vow renewal?
For sixty with a dinner, it helps: twelve cases can be delivered, and the price per case makes up for the delivery. For twenty around a lunch, no: an hour of aperitif and a meal come to 16 bottles, bought singly, and the calculator concludes that you don't need us. A local wine shop will sell them to you and can look for the bottle from the year. The page wine merchant, wine shop, supermarket or producer compares the four without bias.
The party and the bottle from the year, on a single quote: quote request, reply within 48 working hours.