Gift · leaving · whip-round
Wine as a leaving gift: which bottle for the whip-round
A colleague is changing jobs, a manager is being transferred, a client is retiring. The whip-round has gone round, and now a sum of money has to become a bottle. Say who is leaving, why, and how much the collection raised: the tool suggests the format, the range and the year, and tells you when a local wine shop is enough.
What the whip-round can buy
Everything is worked out in your browser. The year they joined is optional: if you know it, the tool says whether the vintage is worth it.
Who is leaving changes the bottle
The amount sets the range; the person sets the rest. Four cases, four customs.
A colleague
A bottle with a story: the year they joined, an appellation they like, the region they are moving to. With the card signed by the team, that is what they will keep.
A manager
More contributors, so one step up: a classified growth (cru classé), or a magnum. Avoid the case of twelve, which looks more like a corporate gift than one from a team.
A client, a partner
Invoice in the company's name, and one tax rule: above €73 incl. VAT per recipient per year, the VAT can no longer be recovered. The VAT on gifts page has the details.
A retirement
Here, you give a bottle that is ready, from the year they were hired if it is still drinkable. The drinks and the gift are on the retirement page.
To drink or to keep
Someone leaving for a new job is starting something: a bottle to keep, which they will open for their first real success there, makes sense. The end of an internship or an assignment calls for a bottle that is ready, opened the following weekend. The tool follows this rule.
| Budget | To drink now | To keep |
|---|---|---|
| €20 to €40 | A cru bourgeois from 2015 to 2018 | A cru bourgeois from a great recent year, 2019 or 2020 |
| €40 to €80 | A classified growth's second wine that is ready, 2014 to 2017 | A second wine from 2019 to 2022, or a magnum of cru bourgeois |
| €80 to €200 | A classified growth from 2008 to 2012 | A classified growth from 2016 to 2022 |
| €200 and up | A classified growth from a great older vintage | A magnum of classified growth, or a pair: one to drink, one to keep |
Guide ranges, exact prices in the quote. Birth year rather than the year they joined? The birth-year vintage page says what is still drinkable.
The card
The bottle gets drunk, the card stays. One sentence saying why this wine, the team's signatures, and the date.
How much to put into a leaving whip-round?
Between €5 and €20 per person depending on how close you are: €5 to €10 for a colleague from another department, €10 to €20 for the immediate team. Fifteen colleagues at €10 make €150: a classified growth, or a second wine and a bottle for the leaving drinks.
What wine to give a colleague who is leaving the company?
A bottle from the year they joined if the vintage is good, to keep if they are leaving for a new job; a bottle that is ready if they are retiring or at the end of an assignment. A magnum makes more of an impression than an expensive bottle.
Can you give wine to a client who is leaving?
Yes, it is a common business gift. Invoice in the company's name; VAT is recoverable up to €73 incl. VAT per recipient per year, all gifts included. For year-end gifts in quantity, see year-end client gifts.
Do you need a wine merchant for a single bottle?
No. Under €50, a local wine shop does the job very well. A quote makes sense for a specific year the shops no longer have, for a magnum, or when the company wants an invoice. For more ideas by budget: which wine to give.
Whip-round mistakes
- A bottle to keep for someone with no cellar. Ask someone close to them. Without a cellar, a bottle that is ready beats a great wine cooking in a cupboard.
- Splitting the whip-round into three gifts. A bottle, flowers and a book at €50 each make less of an impression than one bottle at €150.
- Mixing up the drinks and the gift. The wine for the drinks is counted separately, on the leaving drinks page.
A specific year, a magnum, several people leaving at once? Request a quote with the whip-round total and the year they joined.