Picking a Special Wine for a College Graduate
GRADUATION SEASON is here, and soon college seniors everywhere will be handed watches, pens and perhaps bottles of Champagne and instructed to find their way in the world.
Aside from a wedding, no single life event is imbued with as much pomp and ceremony, not to mention heightened expectations, as a college graduation. It’s a moment of transition and triumph, and the wine served or given as a gift should be something memorable—or, at the very least, enjoyable to drink. (Oddly enough, this rule doesn’t seem to apply to weddings; almost all of the wines I’ve consumed after couples say “I do” have been unrelentingly bad.)
The bottle I bought for my own graduation years ago was unforgettable, in part because of the two-hour trip I took to obtain it. I attended a small liberal arts college in Ohio, and the only place in town to buy wine was a sandwich shop. That didn’t seem sufficient to mark four years of hard work (and many more years of student debt). I’d developed an interest in wine during my junior year abroad, and I wanted to buy something special, so I drove an hour to Columbus, to Lazarus department store. Although the grand retailer is no more, it had a good wine selection back in the day.
Chardonnay was the star grape in the 1980s, so that’s what I bought: A Wente Brothers Chardonnay from Livermore, Calif., now known as Wente Vineyards Morning Fog. I don’t remember the vintage or what I paid, but according to Carolyn Wente, chief executive of Wente Vineyards, the bottle probably cost around $6 back then. That may not sound like much, but it sure seemed like a lot at the time.
I proudly shared the wine with my parents, sister and boyfriend at lunch on the college lawn, explaining the provenance of the bottle and the popularity of the grape—never mind that every other graduate’s drink of choice was beer.
As I flew to Pasadena, Calif., for a college graduation a few weeks ago, I wondered if students today would be as happy celebrating their day with a bottle of cheap Chardonnay. According to Oliver Ryan, the 26-year-old manager of Everson Royce wine shop in Pasadena, they would—as long as it was delicious and came with a “good story.”
While most people buy Champagne to mark the occasion, Mr. Ryan said he prefers less commonplace sparkling wines, like Franciacorta, a Champagne-method wine from the Lombardy region of Italy. He was particularly keen on the 2011 Arcari + Danesi Dosaggio Zero ($32).
Of course bubbly isn’t the only way to celebrate. Mr. Ryan also recommended Rhythm Wine Co.’s 2014 Midnight Companion Tempranillo ($22); the 2014 Populis White Blend ($22) from California, an unlikely mix of Chardonnay and French Colombard; and a 2013 Cabernet Franc from Ravines Wine Cellars in New York’s Finger Lakes, a bottle I was surprised to find in a California wine shop. Mr. Ryan assured me it was delicious—and affordable, at just $20. You don’t need to spend a lot to get something good, he said.
When I told Mr. Ryan that Molly, the soon-to-be graduate, was getting her degree in graphic design, he suggested a wine with a striking label: The 2013 Barrel + Ink Thief ($39). A collaboration between San Francisco-based design firm Lab Partners and California winemaker Pax Mahle, this Sonoma Syrah-Grenache blend comes in a bottle with a bright, whimsical label of a wolf among flowers and, according to Mr. Ryan, has a suitably rich, bold taste.
I gave that wine to Molly at dinner the following night, as we all shared the Franciacorta Mr. Ryan had recommended. She loved the label and promised she’d drink it with her friends soon.
Our exchange made me wonder what wines other graduates were receiving or drinking to mark the occasion, so I called a few wine shops in university towns.
I started with Beltramo’s Wines and Spirits in Menlo Park, Calif., where Silicon Valley and Stanford University converge. “We joke that you can’t take vacation during November, December or Stanford graduation season,” said Laurie Lindrup, the store’s director of business development, referring to their busiest seasons.
Beltramo’s, which also caters graduation parties, sells mostly Champagne and other sparkling wines. Ms. Lindrup said she prefers small-grower Champagnes, as their prices tend to be much better than those of big-name brands, which spend a lot on marketing. Two of Ms. Lindrup’s favorites are both in the $40 range: the Paul Bara Brut Réserve Champagne nonvintage and the Pierre Moncuit Brut Blanc de Blancs nonvintage.
Customers looking for special bottles just for the graduate often buy well-known classics, like a Napa Cabernet or a great Bordeaux, said Ms. Lindrup. Sometimes they even specify a wine from the graduate’s birth year. This year’s grads are particularly lucky as 1995 was an excellent vintage in both Napa and Bordeaux, and wines can cost more than $100 a bottle.
Laurent Chapuis, the proprietor of Princeton Corkscrew Wine Shop in Princeton, N.J., has an international clientele, particularly during graduation season, when Princetonians from all over the world converge on his small town. Mr. Chapuis said he sells hundreds of cases of sparkling wine at this time of year. But it isn’t just recent grads (or, more precisely, their parents) buying. Alumni, in town for reunions, are also picking up bottles—and they spend more money than new graduates do, Mr. Chapuis noted with a laugh.
‘College graduation is a moment of transition and triumph, and the wine served or given should be memorable.’
At Constantino’s Market in Cleveland, Ohio, chief executive Andrew Revy says he also does a swift business in sparkling wine during graduation season at nearby Case Western Reserve University, selling everything “from $8 Moscato to $180 bottles of Dom [Perignon].” Most of the bottles he sells, however, are fairly modestly priced (under $15). One of Mr. Revy’s current favorites is an $8 Dibon Cava from Spain.
Wine merchant Gary Fisch managed to celebrate his daughter’s graduation from college and her wedding with the very same, very good wine. He opened a few bottles of a great Bordeaux, the 1990 Château Montrose, on both occasions, three years apart.
Guests at both events were impressed when they saw the label, said Mr. Fisch, who owns four Gary’s Wine & Marketplace shops in New Jersey. A bottle of the 1990 Château Montrose currently costs $350, but Mr. Fisch said he only paid $18 a bottle some 20 years ago when the wine first came out. He still has a few bottles left from the original case, which he plans to serve when his daughter finishes grad school.
Mr. Fisch also happened to have the 2013 Wente Vineyards Morning Fog Chardonnay in stock at his Wayne, N.J., store for $12 a bottle. I hadn’t tasted the wine since graduation day, and with a friend from college visiting that weekend, the timing for a tasting was perfect.
It was as good as I remembered. A medium-bodied, fairly rich and lightly oaked Chardonnay, the wine was well-balanced and certainly well-priced. My friend Soula and her husband, Chris, both loved it, even though neither one generally liked Chardonnay. Score one for me and for Wente. As for Molly, the new college graduate, she’s still waiting for a special occasion to open the bottle I gave her. She’s been too busy looking for a job.
Source: WSJ
