No matter how well you know someone, you can give a bottle of wine as a gift and be sure to impress. Here are ten tips for how to make a great gift of a bottle of wine based on ten people you might know.
The Techie
Whether or not you know anything about your tech lovin’, reddit posting neighbor’s tastes in wine you are sure to impress by gifting a bottle from La Crema or Columbia Crest. These two American companies have used technology to make decisions about their wine. Your techie friend will love opening this bottle with friends and telling how even winemakers understand the importance of being connected… to the internet, that is!
The Pop Culture Fiend
Some people like dead poets. Others like celebrities. If you have a friend who is a fan of a particular actor, musician or other known personality there’s a good chance that they have their hands in the wine business. Race car drivers, musicians and movie stars, even politicians — they’ve all gotten into the wine making business. A google search or this helpful list will help you figure out how to pick the perfect bottle for any fanboy or girl.
The Do Gooder
Is someone in your office always running a 5k for a good cause? Volunteering to help others? Collecting supplies for victims of a disaster? Consider purchasing one of the many bottles that goes to a cause. One of the newest and most popular trends in wines are companies that donate a certain amount of the cost (or their profits) to notable causes. Earn bonus points by buying a bottle that reflects a cause close to their heart. One Hope and Cork for a Cause donate to everything from funding pet adoption to helping promote research for autism and breast cancer. If you’ve got someone who loves environmental causes there are wines that support America’s National Parks as well as vineyards who support a variety of other green initiatives.
The Lover Of All Things Beautiful
Whether an artist herself or collector of all things beautiful, a bottle of wine can serve as more than just something to be drunk. It can also make a lovely addition to a table, simply as a statement piece. Consider purchasing a particularly beautiful bottle for the person in your life who loves aesthetics. Some of the most beautiful bottles in the world include Protea’s Chenin Blanc, White Fence’s Meteor Merlot, and Chateau “Skulls” Grenache-Mourvedre South Australia.
The Joker
Bring some class to even the most crass by buying a bottle with a humorous label. Perfect for a friend with a sense of humor or even as a nice touch for a white elephant or other gift exchange, consider Soggy Bottom Boy’s Sauvignon Blanc or a zombie–inspired bottle (that’s actually a fantastic and bold wine). Pinterest is a fantastic warehouse for funny wine bottles but be warned, the Simpsons’ themed Homer and Marge are conceptual only and do not exist!
He Who Fears Ordering Wine
We’ve all heard the story about a girl who dates a guy who never orders wine but will sip hers. Or drink it at her apartment, never saying what type just, “surprise me!” or “whatever you’re having, hun.” Months into the relationship she figures out that he’s terrified of pronouncing those tricky varietals incorrectly. Have no fear, the clever makers of Vee–noh! have come to the rescue with bottles that include the phonetic pronunciation of their wines right on the label. Bring another friend into the fold with one of these clever wines.
The Collector
Maybe it’s your boss, or your new significant other’s parents, but someone on your list is a collector of wine. A connoisseur, even. But you feel like you have to give a gift of wine for whatever reason. There’s a trick to this gift: visit a local wine shop and talk to someone who works there about a good boutique wine (a wine from a small producer) or fledgling winery that produced a particularly good vintage. Another option is to consider wines from emerging countries in wine, especially if you have a little extra cash to spare. Consider China or Mexico for a nontraditional bottle certain to show off your knowledge of the emerging markets in the wine world.
The Clean Eater
Gluten-free? Vegetarian? Vegan? Most wines are gluten-free but, believe it or not, many wines are not vegan. So if you have someone in your life who is vegan (eats nothing derived from animals including but not limited to dairy, white sugar, honey) you shouldn’t just pick up a bottle because it’s made with grapes. Lucky for you, there are many excellent vegan wines. And organic? Yeah, many producers have that covered now, too.
The Nonconformist
This is the guy who always has to be different. He’s carrying a flip phone and using a word processor and he swears the sound quality is superior when the album is originally pressed vinyl. Don’t roll your eyes at him, though. Embrace him! He’ll give you a chance to explore some of the more interesting wines out there, like orange wine. Consider it the antithesis to rose. Where rose is made by using red wine grapes as if they were white (getting the grapes away from the skins as soon as possible), orange wine uses white grapes and keeps the skin on during aging. The taste is different, and definitely acquired, but catching on in places like Italy.
The Beer Snob
She won’t drink wine, she won’t drink gin. She’ll have a double IPA, the hoppier the better thank you very much. But if you want to impress her, consider a wine with flavors even the biggest hop fiend is sure to love. Chilean varietal Carmenere – which incorporates savory and bitter flavors along with the fruit. Your hop loving friend will appreciate a wine that has some of her favorite qualities from her usual beverage of choice.
No matter who you have to buy for there is a world of wine that contains a bottle for everyone – just figure out something about them and have fun picking it out.