Cellaring

Buying a birth-year wine

By Halliday Wine Companion

13 Nov, 2024

If you're looking for a birth-year wine, or a special bottle to cellar, we're here to guide you through buying a milestone wine.

Have you ever heard the term 'birth-year wine' and wondered what it was? Is it a wine from the year you were born? What kind of wine should you choose? How long do you cellar it for?

How to choose a birth-year wine

Whether you're looking for advice on buying birth-year wines for a newborn to crack on a milestone birthday in the distant future or, more importantly, for you to drink to celebrate their coming of age, you've come to the right place. Buying a birth-year wine is a great gesture when you get it right, but could prove a costly error if you get it wrong. Here are 10 tips to improve your chances.

Don't forget you can use the Halliday Vintage Chart to track wine regions and ratings across the last 30 vintages. The Vintage Chart rates the vintage in each wine region of Australia annually – the chart holds ratings for every Australian vintage from 1987 to 2023 and is updated with the release of the Halliday Wine Companion. 

Penfolds GrangeChoose a birth-year wine that can be cellared until it can be appreciated.

Select a wine to cellar

Just because they can drink it on their 18th doesn’t mean they’ll have developed a taste for old wine yet. They’ll more likely be up for it on their 25th or 30th, so be sure to select a wine that will go the distance.

The best wines to cellar for birth-year milestones

There’s a time for experimenting with new producers and obscure varieties, but this is not it. It's likely you're looking for a wine that can be cellared for 10 to 20 years (or beyond). For whites, riesling, semillon and Champagne are your most reliable options. Red wines like cabernet sauvignon, shiraz, malbec, merlot, nebbiolo and vintage port are the most enduring, and can be cellared for 10 to 20 years.

Which regions produce the best wines to cellar?

Bordeaux, Burgundy, Champagne, Sauternes, Barolo and Mosel are the classic European choices, but Margaret River, Coonawarra, Clare Valley, Barossa and the Hunter Valley offer reliable and more affordable options. You can track the vintages in Australian wine regions with the Halliday Vintage Chart. You can read more about how long to cellar wine for here.

John Duval with a magnumMagnums or larger bottles will age more reliably.

Which vintage is best for a birth-year wine?

You don’t get to choose the year when you’re buying a birth vintage, but you can choose the region, and there will always be some of the top regions that had a good vintage in any given year.

Set yourself a calendar reminder

Set yourself a reminder for the right time to buy a birth-vintage wine. This may sound like an odd tip, but many people get excited about buying birth-vintage wines at the time of the birth, but the wines aren’t available yet. Set yourself a reminder for four or five years’ time for Australian wines or 10 years’ time for prestige Champagne.

Buy a bottle on its release

Buying a bottle on release is usually cheaper than buying at auction later on, and the provenance is guaranteed.

Grosset riesling close up of screw capSelecting a wine under screwcap means you minimise the risk of cork taint or premature oxidisation.

Buy a magnum or a larger bottle

Magnums or larger bottles of wine age more reliably and heighten the sense of celebration.

Which will age better – wines under cork or screwcap?

Buying wine under screwcap will minimise the risk of cork taint or premature oxidisation.

How much money should I spend on a birth-year wine?

This is the time to celebrate, so buy the top wines of an estate, the First Growths, Grand Crus or prestige cuvées.

How to store a birth-year wine

Proper cellar conditions are crucial for long ageing. If you don't have access to a home cellar, be sure to store the wine in a cool, dark place. It's important that the temperature remains consistent. Ideal cellar conditions are a temperature of up to 15 degrees. Be sure to limit the amount of light exposure, and don't select a place that will be impacted by vibration.

Expand your knowledge with Halliday Wine Academy

Halliday Wine Academy offers an in-depth view of the Australian and international wine landscapes. Select Introduction to Wine to learn about Australian wine and regions or choose Wines of the World (part one) to get to know international wines.

Through Introduction to Wine, students will learn about Australian wine and wine regions, how wine is made, how to taste and describe wine, how to approach food and wine matches, along with handy tips that address common wine questions. And in part one of our Wines of the World course, discover and explore the iconic wines, regions and laws of France, Spain, Portugal, Hungary, Germany and Austria.

Part of this article was written by Tyson Stelzer.

Image credit: Wine Australia/Andy Nowell.

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