Red

Red is the largest part of ANNO, with bottles from the 1940s to the latest releases, and there is a plain reason for it. Red wine ferments on its skins, the skins give tannin, and tannin is what lets a wine sit in a cellar for decades without falling apart. For most birth years and wedding dates, red is the natural place to start.

Bordeaux is the deepest source: Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, made in quantity year after year. Burgundy adds Pinot Noir, from a region that makes far less wine. The Rhône gives Syrah from Hermitage and Côte-Rôtie and the Grenache of Châteauneuf-du-Pape. From Italy there is Nebbiolo from Barolo and Barbaresco, and Sangiovese from Chianti Classico and Brunello di Montalcino. From Spain there is Rioja, whose old Gran Reservas spent years in American oak before release, and Ribera del Duero.

For a year gift, the region counts as much as the date. The reds that carry age best are the firm ones: Médoc claret, Barolo, Syrah from the northern Rhône, Rioja Gran Reserva. Burgundy and the lighter Tuscan reds are more delicate at the same age, with more scent than weight. When the obvious region had a poor harvest in your year, another often had a good one, and the red wine collections by decade go through the strong and the weak years.

Most bottles here are 0,75l, with magnum 1,5l and double magnum 3l for a bigger gathering. The list opens with the most affordable and can be narrowed by year, region and format. With a bottle of forty years or more, the cork is often soft and can crumble under an ordinary corkscrew. A two-pronged puller that slides down the sides of the cork, known as a butler's friend, brings it out whole more often.

Bottles from before 1990 are sold as collectible items, without a guarantee of drinkability. Each one is checked by hand for fill level, label and capsule before it ships, and transit cover can be added at checkout.