Hello Wine Lovers, I’m getting married in about 2 months and wanted to put a nice bottle of wine on the guests table for their enjoyment. I do love both regions and I think I finalized it down to these 2 wines. I wanted to get your opinion since there are few different variables for a wedding wine for 500 people than a wine spent with people who all genuinely appreciate it.
I’ve been looking at wines in $35-50 dollar range since I will be needing to get about 12 cases. These are my finalists.
I’m not going to tell you which one I’m gravitating towards. I’m curious on your opinions based on the following.
Taste:
Which has a better flavor profile for you (the experienced wine taster?
Which has a better flavor profile for the general public, people that aren’t experienced in red wine?
Bragging Rights: What wine is more prestigious and demands more respect?
Aesthetic: What or which wine bottle is more aesthetically pleasing to you.
I feel like I already have chosen the winner. I would like to still pick your guys brain to see what you’d prefer as a wedding guest or be impressed with as a wedding guest.
Also open to recommendations only if they blow these out of the water in the price range. I don’t want to make this more of a lengthy process as weddings have many small details and decisions to be made.
Looking forward to your guys thoughts.
by Guilty-Wealth5935
22 Comments
Good luck. Seems like decent picks for over 500 people? I cant tell, but if I was at a wedding with napa cab for free, I’d be a happy cat
Post and beam is great. I actually prefer Bella union (which is another wine by far niente), and I think it would be a more appropriate thing for a wedding.
If most of your guests are from the US, I’d say the Napa bottle.
Americans are used to high amounts of sweetness and Napa caters to that flavor profile.
The Italian wine is probably more earthy which can be a miss with American consumers.
The Cesari Amarone I had in my early 20s was the red wine that started my whole wine journey.
Amarone is a BIG wine and may not be a crowd pleaser.
I kinda think you know the answers to these questions and that’s why you are conflicted. Napa Cab to Americans (assuming, of course, you are American) is going to be the more approachable and familiar to guests that are not ‘into’ wine, while the Amarone is going to win you some style points from snobs.
Out of the two, this Amarone has the more simple and classic aesthetic while the cab is maybe a bit more ‘fun’.
I would pick based on what me and my spouse wanted, and that alone, to be honest. I am paying, the party is to honor me. But that doesn’t seem like your bag so – yeah.
I love both- what’s the food?
porque no los dos? get 6 cases of each and alternate them between tables!
From the heading I’d say Italy, but with the examples given I’d say napa. Amarone can be magical but it’s also a punch in the face. If you want a crowd pleaser from Italy, look for a sangiovese or a barbera.
Hope your guests know enough about wine to know either one of those wines are solid and expensive for 12 cases!
Most wedding guests can’t recall shit about what they drank or ate that night. You could find a solid $20 bottle and save a ton.
I would go with that post n beam, amarone higher alcohol content as well. What you doing for champs and whites?
If you want to do Italian red, do a Chianti or Barbera for a wedding.
I’m pretty sure the Post and Beam will both please and impress the most people.
So, just a thought. Why not Both? Different bottles might keep the vide interactive when the party winds down.
Half and half.
Are all 500 guests wine connoisseurs? If not I’d reconsider shelling out $35-50 per bottle, per table in favor of more affordable, but still crowd pleasing wines.
A GSM blend and a crisp white like NZ Sav Blanc for around ~$15 each will not only be more affordable, but probably more enjoyable for most of your guests.
Why do you want a wine with “bragging rights” that “demands respect” at your wedding?
Genuinely, the people who are attending will be there to celebrate your marriage to your spouse, not to be hit over the head by the awesome expensiveness and prestigiousness of your wine selections. Most will not even look at the label, and of the few that do, even fewer will actually remember the details—unless all of your guests work in the wine industry (in which case you wouldn’t be asking this question).
u/belgiqueatx has the best advice here—buy some well-made crowd-pleasers at significantly less money and save yourself some coin.
Both of these are teeth-staining reds I recommend something lighter for weddings, otherwise everyone’s teeth and lips will be stained in the photos.
Amarone all day
I’m biased here because the US is threatening our sovereignty… Italy.
I’d still pick the Italian wine anyway. Grateful I could tour NAPA before the fire but I’d still pick the Italian.
Introducing a third, consider British Columbian wines. Though, if you’re American this option might be limited soon.
It would be a mistake to not include a lighter bodied red and especially a white. You may imagine that people would appreciate the quality of your selections but when given choices most people are much happier. In other words you have three groups of people: the mixed drink-buorbon/whisk(e)y crowd, the beer crowd and the winos. The two groups of non wine drinkers outnumber the winos these days. If there is a bottle of red wine at each table (500 means a lot of tables) then two thirds of these people will find another libation. You will make your crowd much happier if you offer more choices in both wine ( red and white) and of course several beer offerings as well. Heresy to say in this sub, I know, but wine is fading from the general public’s interest these days. I supplied wine for several weddings recently and was shocked at how little wine was consumed. Do you Plato open these bottles at each table to let them breathe? Will there be an opener at each table? Opening wine for that many people will take time and a good number of people. If you open the bottles at each table, expect there will be much waste, as for a wedding of 500 is there are 50 tables of ten.you are well over $2,000 with no white wine option. Frankly, I’d love to be there!! I’d pick the Post & Beam as it is more of a crowd pleaser but I’d worry that many bottles would not be consumed. If unopened, great: in the cellar they go but if opened. There would be waste. BTW. Best wishes for a wonderful wedding…here’s to having a few bottles left to crack open on your 25th wedding anniversary!!
Do Post & Beam and try your best to convince the shop you order from to give it to you at the regular margin and not the longer MSRP set by Far Niente.