With our Fred having just got married to his beautiful bride Shekinah we’ve been doing a bit of wedding wine tasting and planning.
I clearly remember my wedding wines - Champagne Leclerc for the fizz, Sancerre from a grower who’s become a good friend, Frank Bailly Reverdy, for the white and a Julienas from Beaujolais for the red – all unashamedly French and delicious. It was a bright Summer’s day in July and I’m sure I’m the only person still alive who’d remember them.
But what wines did Fred and Shekinah choose for their big days (they had 2 🤣 obvs – 1 trad Nigerian and 1 Cornish) and how did they go about choosing them? To keep it simple we’ll stick to the Cornish wedding (which is happening on Saturday!) and reveal the wines at the end.
We know we’ll be getting through a few bottles and a Champagne, Sancerre and red Cru Beaujolais would be quite wallet crippling now. They were expensive back when I got married (1996) but today they’re nudging up to £30 a bottle and he/I know we don’t need to be spending that sort of money to rock the party.
Here is how we went about choosing. They had to decide on the styles of wine they wanted, they wanted to keep the costs down, make sure they ordered the right amount and I was keen for them to keep it classy – the bottles had to look good on the tables.
Firstly the style of wine they chose. Many couples set out to please their guests. No bad thing but when it comes to wine, it’s dangerous. They had no idea what their guests so I encouraged them to be bold and go for what they like. They’d worked hard to make sure the marquee looked amazing, and everything else about the décor and they hadn’t thought about whether or not their friends would like that. Nor the food, they had chosen food that they liked … and it was all vegan, not a chicken wing in site. So they chose their wines to compliment the beautiful Cornish sunny weather, the delicious food and the general vibe that they wanted. No bland, inoffensive wines got a look in.
And we needed to keep the costs down, so, the first thing to tackle was the fizz - often the priciest of the wines and, if it was going to be a Champagne, it could be twice, if not three times the price of the still wines. I gave them a blind taste of a very good Prosecco, a Blanquette de Limoux, a Cremant de Loire and a Champagne. All bar the Prosecco are made in the Champagne method and both the Blanquette and the Cremant were half the price of the Champagne. I of course showed them wines that we had in our shop but all of these styles are available in all good wine shops and supermarkets.
How were we going to keep it classy. It’s was their big day – not an Oyster Bay day, nor a Jam Shed Red moment and of course it wouldn’t have been with wines coming from yours truly. If you want to keep your wedding super classy I’d avoid the everyday labels and the brands and go for classy looking bottles that are a bit different …. and, as Fred and Shekinah discovered, they don’t have to cost the earth.
And then there’s the conundrum of how much to order. We in fact ran out of wine at their traditional Nigerian wedding. Shock horror but I had no idea how thirsty 300 party going Nigerians would be so for the Cornish wedding we’re working on this:
Half a bottle of Fizz per person. Enough for the reception
1 bottle of wine per person, split one third white and two thirds red
We’ve probably overcooked it on the fizz as that would leave enough for the toast. We’re actually having a toast with Palm Wine from Nigeria but if you’re going down the traditional English route then factor in that extra glass of fizz … which is a whole lot more delicious than Palm Wine btw 🤣.
Of course I’m going to take back all that is not used and most helpful wine shops will do the same. Majestic are particularly good and they’ll lend you glasses too.
And finally. What have they chosen for their big day tomorrow?:
Fizz:
Blanquette de Limoux ‘Saint Hilaire’ NV Brut @ £14.95
White:
Secateurs Chenin Blanc 2023, South Africa @ £15.50
Red: