mouton rothschild barrel room
The Mouton Rothschild barrel room.
(Image credit: Decanter)

Want to mark a year of birth in 2017 with wine? Anthony Rose shares what to buy...

2017 wines for special occasions – ask Decanter

KP, Bromley, asks: Our family has a wedding day tradition of serving wine from the child’s birth year.

My daughter was born in 2017, but it appears this was a pretty patchy year, with decent reds such as Château Mouton Rothschild already quite highly priced. Any advice?

Anthony Rose, an awarded wine writer and regular Decanter contributor, replies for Decanter:

Vintage Port or cru classé Bordeaux from the year of a child’s birth is a traditional 18th birthday gift, but neither of these wine styles are typical wedding fare.

If you can’t be sure when (or if) your daughter will get married, buy a wine that serves double duty as celebration or consolation.

I suggest a mix of Charles Heidsieck Mis en Cave 2017 (based on the 2016 vintage); dry German Grosses Gewächs Riesling from Dönnhoff, Dr Loosen, Kühling-Guillot or Schäfer-Fröhlich; a good, middle-ranking Bordeaux stayer such as Capbern, Clos du Marquis, Meyney, Ormes de Pez or Potensac or, budget permitting, Les Carmes Haut-Brion.

Keep the wines in tip-top condition, and I also suggest trying at least one of each at intervals to give time, should any be peaking early or exceeding expectations, to make satisfactory alternative arrangements.

This question first appeared in the October 2018 issue of Decanter magazine.

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Anthony Rose
Anthony Rose
Decanter Magazine, Wine Wwriter & DWWA Judge
Anthony Rose is the wine correspondent of the Independent and i newspapers and contributes to various other publications, among them Decanter Magazine. He was a solicitor in a previous incarnation but decided it was time to get a steady job. He is co-chair of the Decanter World Wine Awards Australia panel and has won a number of awards for wine writing. In 2014 he published The Tapas Bar Guide (Grub Street, £10.99), co-authored with Isabel Cuevas, a guide to tapas bars in the UK. Anthony spends far too much of his time nosing his way around the world in wine competitions, having judged in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Chile, California, Japan, China and France. He is fascinated by Japanese sake and is co-Chairman of the Sake International Challenge in Tokyo and teaches a consumer course at Sake No Hana in London. Anthony is also a published photographer and a founding member of The Wine Gang at ,. Anthony lives in South London and in what spare time he has, he likes to cook, eat and drink the best wines and sakes he can afford on a wine writer’s budget.