In light of Lettie Teague’s recent article in The Wall Street Journal, and my own impending nuptials, I thought I’d provide some additional insight into the process of purchasing wedding wines.
Having gone through the selection process just last week, I can accurately say that it isn’t easy. Finding wine, in quantity, at the right price points, and for a large crowd, is a tricky endeavor. Never mind the quest for wines that meet these requirements but which are also interesting.
As Lettie rightly comments, cost is the number one concern when it comes to making these selections. With any large event, the per bottle cost must be kept low in order to keep the total bill from spiraling totally out of control. I would also second her statement to, “have what everyone else is having.” I think this is a good rule of thumb for most couples. For our wedding, while we know there will be plenty of wine industry professionals and private collectors in attendance, their numbers still pale in comparison to the total number of people who, honestly, could care less about what they’re drinking.
Left with the difficult task of treading the line between finding something with broad appeal, but still with enough stuffing to hold the interest of people ‘in the know,’ we began doing some serious research. Holding the reception at a restaurant also meant that we could only select wines already on the restaurant’s wine list. This is a common situation, and is workable if you know what to look for. After scouring the list in detail, we set up an appointment with the restaurant’s Wine Director to taste through some potential wines and formulate a plan. For anyone in this situation, I would emphasize the importance of creating an open dialogue with the Sommelier or Beverage Director about prices, quantities, and wine options.
For our selections, we opted for one sparkling wine, one white wine, and one red wine. Further consideration was given to the fact that we would also be serving beer and cocktails. Having a wedding in early July also meant that we would weight the percentage of still wine in favor of white over red.
Sparkling:
This category is often over-emphasized at weddings. When you get down to it, the price of real Champagne (particularly with the restaurant mark-up) can be frightening. Furthermore, most people cannot tell the difference between Cava, Prosecco, the various Cremants, or Champagne, but only whether they like the way the wines taste vis-à-vis each other. Therefore, we purposefully selected lower price-point sparkling wines to try – searching for good QPR – in order to transfer the leftover per bottle cost to what we knew would be more expensive still wines.
White:
Initially I pushed hard for a 2007 Chablis. I’m enthusiastic over this vintage and classic Chablis can please a lot of palates – enough oak for new-world Chardonnay lovers, while maintaining the necessary minerality and acidity that serious wine nerds love – and they go well with a variety of foods. We asked the Wine Director to pull some wines for the tasting which met these qualifications.
Red:
We were more adamant on our red selection. Having spent significant time in Oregon prior to living in California, we wanted an Oregon Pinot Noir. Currently the market is flooded with wines from the 2007 vintage – a difficult one in the Willamette Valley – and the 2008s are just now becoming available, so we knew that finding a solid selection would be a challenge.
Our calculations were as follows:
185 Expected Guests
157 Expected Wine/Beer/Cocktail consumers
Avg. of 4 drinks / person (It’s a celebration!)
Total of 628 servings of alcohol (70% Wine, 20% Beer, 10% Liquor)
Of the resulting 440 wine servings, we were aiming for 45% White, 35% Red, 20% Sparkling (These are good general percentages - switch the red and white for a cooler weather wedding.)
This comes out to 198 White wine servings, 154 Red, and 88 Sparkling.
Avg. of 5 servings / bottle
Equals approximately 40 bottles of White (3.5 cases), 30 bottles of Red (2.5 cases), and 17 bottles of Sparkling (1.5 cases).
Ultimately, we went with the following selections –
Sparkling: Our choice for sparkling wine came down to a toss-up between a Cremant de Bourgogne and a Cremant d’Alsace. We eventually settled on the NV Allimant-Laugner - Cremant d’Alsace Rose. With 100% Pinot Noir fruit, stellar color, and a crisp, flower-scented nose, this was the eventual winner.
White: The availability of 2007 Chablis which we liked, in sufficient quantity, became an issue, so we ended up staying in Burgundy and within vintage, but going a bit further afield. Our choice was the 2007 Domaine Auvigue – Saint Veran Les Chenes. Considered one of the premier winemakers in the Maconnais, Jean-Pierre Auvigue produced this tasty White Burgundy from “The Oaks” vineyard. Refreshing, with round Chardonnay fruit and a subtle minerality, we expect this to be a crowd pleaser.
Red: Due to the difficulty of the 2007 Willamette Valley vintage, we also opted to stay in Oregon but selected a Pinot Noir from the Upqua Valley, which is further south and had less inclement weather during the year. Our choice was the 2007 Brandborg – Pinot Noir Bench Lands. The wine has strawberry fruit, fresh mushrooms, earth and oak spice on the nose. The palate has cherry fruit with smoke, toast, and a lingering finish.
