Be they clubs, books, glasses, fridges, gadgets or wine, here are ten gift ideas for wine lovers:
My Wines Direct
The My Wines Direct Wine Club makes a great gift for any wine lover. With both 3 month and 6 month options, My Wines Direct offers 3 bottles of wine delivered each month (either 3 bottles of red or 2 reds and 1 white). The wines are included in the club are from “small undiscovered vineyards around the world” and are chosen through consumer tasting panels that the company holds each month. Over the course of the club, recipients can expect to taste a variety of wines from California, Europe, South America and Australia. My Wines Direct wine club information / Wine Shipping Information.
Christmas Wine Gift Recommendations
New Years Eve Champagne Recommendations
Books
There are a lot of wine books out there and any wine geek has likely learned that people love to give wine books to wine geeks. In other words, they probably have a dozen wine guides to this or that collecting dust on their bookshelves. If you are going the book route for a gift, consider Julia Flynn's book on the Mondavi Family, The House of Mondavi: The Rise and Fall of an American Wine Dynasty. It's a quick read on the first family of American wine and provides an interesting perspective on the evolution of the US wine industry.
Bordeaux
Any wine lover will smile with gratitude and excitement to find a bottle of Bordeaux under the tree.
California Wine Club
California wine club is a good gift for those business clients who love wine but who you don't know well enough to choose a specific wine or producer for them. The California Wine Club focuses on small, family owned wineries so each month your wine enthusiast will receive a new wine that is likely both worth trying and new to them. And what better way to keep your name in the thoughts of your favorite client than by having them get a monthly reminder of your appreciation?
Champagne (for New Years)
If you know your gift recipient loves wine but you have no clue what to get them, consider buying them a nice bottle of champagne so they can celebrate the New Year in style. Choices abound with true Champagne from the Champagne region of France (try Franck Bonville Brut Millesime Blanc de Blancs Champagne), Spanish sparkling wine (try Montsarra Cava), California sparkling wine (try Roederer Estate), and the Italian sparkling wine Prosecco (try Riondo Prosecco).
Decanter
A decanter can be a great gift but only under the right circumstances. You need to make sure that your gift recipient 1. Is "into" wine enough that they value decanting and 2. That they don't already have a decanter they love (nobody wants to store TWO of these in their cabinet!). Assuming they past the test, I recommend a Riedel decanter as Riedel is plain and simply the best stemware on the market and a Riedel decanter will surely impress.
Stemware
Riedel wine glasses are a great gift as they put tremendous effort towards perfecting the wine glass. Some may scoff at the notion that the glass makes a difference at all but ask a beer lover if they prefer a glass mug or ceramic coffee cup for their favorite brew? It makes a difference and good stemware is a difference maker for any wine enthusiast. Even better, Riedel offers wine glasses specific to many types of wine (not just red, white, and champagne flutes). My personal favorites are the stemless wine glasses as well as the port wine glasses (port glasses....the exact stemware you wouldn't buy for yourself but you are glad to own).
Vintage Port
A vintage port is a fabulous gift for a wine enthusiast as it's a great wine to serve guests and one which is great to lay down for some future special event (like next Christmas!). Some producers to consider include Quinta do Crasto, Ferreira, or Broadbent. Typically the older the vintage port the harder it is to find and the more expensive it will be.
Vinturi Wine Aerator
A neat wine gadget is the Vinturi Wine Aerator. This gadget acts as a sort of filter that forces oxygen on the wine as it is poured from the bottle into the glass. Essentially this device provides instant decanting. I was skeptical at first until some friends and I taste tested a glass poured without the aerator against one poured through it. The difference was notable and I was sold.
Wine Fridge
A wine fridge is a weird gift (who gives someone an appliance?) but it is a great gift if you know the recipient needs one. How do you know? If they have wine bottles tucked away in every corner of their home they need a wine fridge. Wine fridges come in seemingly every capacity with some as small as twelve bottles to others that hold over a thousand.
