It’s that time of year again. Thanksgiving is past and now sets in the search for The Perfect Gift. For everyone on your list. I’m not a big fan of the commercial side of the holidays, but we live in wine country and my husband and I are both in the wine industry, so we often get asked what to buy for people who love wine. So I thought I’d just delve right in to the question and share my ideas with you all. For what it’s worth, here’s what would be on my list:
De Long’s Wine Grape Varietal Table — My Dad makes a sport out of picking unique wine-related gifts for Christopher each year, and this was 
one of the biggest winners. 184 of the world’s grape varietals (who knew there were so many?) are meticulously organized into a sort of periodic table that is so attractive it begs to be framed. We’ve had many fun hours poring over obscure varietals with friends and family.
Laguiole Wine Opener — As many of you know, we flew down to Guatemala on Father’s Day to pick up our baby daughter, Noe. What you may not know is that just a few months earlier, my husband had taken his first official job with a winery (he’d been consulting for close to a decade) on the other side of the Mayacaymas, unfortunately, but with one helluva gorgeous commute. Anyway . . . I was pondering what to get Christopher to celebrate both his first Father’s day and his entry into the wine industry and I thought an engraved Laguiole wine opener would be perfect. So I found one that was made out of a barrel stave (it even has stains from the red wine) and had it engraved with 6–17–2007. He treasures it. There are many merchants out there selling Laguiole products, but I highly recommend this one. I specified the wrong date in my order (there was just a little bit of distraction during that time) and didn’t realize it until it showed up. But they graciously offered to replace it with the correct date without any fuss and did so promptly.
Riedel O’s — I fought the whole stemless concept for a good year. And then my best friend bought us a six-pack of O’s. Now, they’re our water glass for wine. We use them every night, except for special occasions when we bring the stems back out and they feel even more lavish with their new-won novelty.
Wine Club Membership — If you know someone who loves wine and you’re up for a gift that requires a quarterly “installment,” wine clubs are a great way to go. Normally, you pay a certain amount and receive a set number of bottles between two and four times a year, often special releases or wines only available to wine club members. You’ll also get invited to winery events, get discounts at the winery and sometimes even receive a little something extra at the end of the year. Clos du Bois has one (you can buy a membership online as a gift), and two of our other 
favorites are Forth Vineyards (our friend, Jann, tucks each bottle in its box personally) in Dry Creek Valley and Navarro Vineyards, in Anderson Valley.
Wine Books — Maybe it’s just that I’m just paying closer attention, but I feel like there are more books than ever out there for wine lovers. Here are a few I’d recommend—either having read them myself or on another’s trusted word:
- The Vineyard (Idwal Jones) — A classic novel written in the 40’s about life through the eyes of a vintner in the Napa Valley from the late 1800s through prohibition. I’ve read it several times, it’s one of my favorites.
- The Oxford Companion to Wine (Jancis Robinson) — I love this book. My husband takes this book to bed (he’s a wine geek . . . not a snob, a geek). It is supremely comprehensive about everything and anything you’ve ever wanted to know about wine, written in a very approachable style.
- Adventures on the Wine Route (Kermit Lynch) — I haven’t read this yet, but I’ve heard great things about it and am looking forward to reading it myself. (Dad, if you’re reading, this would be a good gift for either of us . . . )
- Wine and Philosophy (Fritz Allhoff) — Again, I haven’t read this one. But Jeff at Good Grape sings its praises and I trust his taste . . . in all things wine-related.
- Red, White and Drunk All Over (Natalie MacLean) — Nope, haven’t read this one yet either (did I mention I’m working on a novel of my own?). But I have read Natalie’s shorter musings and enjoy her voice immensely. So I’d imagine her book is par for the course.
- The Battle for Wine and Love (Alice Feiring) — Alice’s voice (check out her blog here) is witty, fresh and irrepressible. So far, we’ve only seen snippets of her new book. But I’d say it’s worth a pre-order.
Wine Games — I’ve browsed a few of these at stores and online and these are the ones I’d go with:
- Wine Smarts — Sort of like a Trivial Pursuit for oenophiles.
- Winerd — Even more like Trivial Pursuit for oenophiles . . . only this one involves a board and actual wine.
- Blind Wine — Basically a blind wine tasting party in a box.
- Bouquet, The Wine Game — You guessed it . . . another TP-type wine game.
Wine Education — Wine classes make a great gift for wine lovers, no matter what your budget. You could choose a one-night affair at a local wine bar or wine store, an online course, or a full-on scholarship-worthy curriculum at a place like the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone. Here’s a good place to start seeking if you’re interested.
Wine Cellars — Back when I wrote Cellars on a Shoestring, several people pointed out that “wine cellars”—i.e., wine refrigerators—could be had for as little as $200, which makes them a good choice for a special gift. I myself have been wanting to buy one for Christopher for years, but I just can’t seem to figure out where we’d put it. I even thought of ditching the hot water heater (or trading out for a smaller, external one anyway), but he just wouldn’t bite. Oh well . . . there’s always next year!
13 Comments
Lia - thanks for all those ideas. I’m a newcomer to truly learning about wine and I’ll mention some of those to my husband. My daughter bought me stemless wine glasses last Christmas. I have sets of very old wine glasses too - from my husband’s grandparents and some I’ve bought at antique stores. I was in Napa last year with a fellow RN at a conference for 5 days and we did go to some wineries. It is fun to learn about wine
steph
Hey Lia,
Great post; this is exactly the resource I needed for all the wine folks in my life (there’s a lot of them dropping hints for wine-o gifts this year!!). Now I’ve got my shopping list. Thought I’d add another idea to your list: I just discovered the new Schott Zwiesel wine glasses that are crystal and a simple elegant design, but are reinforced to stand up to heavy use, dishwashers, etc. Cheers!
Thanks so much for considering my book Lia! I’ll be interested to hear your thoughts … and hey what’s your book about?
I think you already get my free e-newsletter. Thanks for reading my snippets!
Cheers,
Natalie
http://www.nataliemaclean.com
I completely agree with your husband - The Oxford Companion to Wine is a great book for Wine Nerds. I should know; I’m one as well!
winescorecard.com
Salut Lia !
Thanks for so many great ideas. I’m going to look into some of those books and see if I can find any that’s translated into French for Gilbert…. although he’s not such a good book reader ! I’m always hoping I’ll find THE wine-related book that will do the trick ! Recently, I bought him the ‘Dictionnaire de la langue du vin’ that was just published by a linguist and hope he’ll consult it more than once.
I have another gift idea for you, although I don’t know if they’re merchandized in the US - it’s SPIEGELAU wine glasses. Gilbert has met a wine expert that has been helping him in selecting the wines they’ll offer at the restaurant - opening Wednesday now !!! - and that François guy never goes anywhere without his special suitcase containing Spiegelau glasses for tastings ! He says they’re the best. I’m sending you an email with a picture of the glasses that Gilbert had engraved for the restaurant so you can take a look at them. You can post it on this site if you’d like.
Hope that flu of yours and Chris’ is gone. I’ve had a bad cold for a week and keep my fingers crossed every day hoping that Antoine won’t get it.
Love & bisous.
Steph . . . You’re very welcome! Glad you like the stemless too.
Jason & Anne-Liesse . . . Good suggestions. I’ll add both of those to the list. And A-L, we’ll all be rooting for Gilbert this week during the opening of his restaurant. Anyone who lives in Lyon, pop by Les Garcons Boucher!
Natalie . . . Thanks for coming by. I’ll hope to be on YOUR booklist once I finish my novel ;-). I’m oh so close.
Steve . . . I think I might even be a Wine Nerd myself. Christopher took his OCW to the office and I was despondent. Guess I’ll just have to ask for one of my own for Christmas!
Hi Lia,
My name is Shannon and I’m the editorial assistant at Foodbuzz.com. I am very impressed with the quality of your posts and to that end, I’d like to invite you to be a part of our newly launched Foodbuzz Featured Publisher program. I would love to send you more details about the program, so if you are interested, please email me at Shannon@foodbuzz.com.
Cheers!
Shannon Eliot
Editorial Assistant, Foodbuzz.com
shannon@foodbuzz.com
P.S. Thanks for posting that note about the grape varietal table. It’s brilliant!
Shannon . . . Thanks for turning me on to Foodbuzz. I just sent you an e-mail. And you’re very welcome about the de Long’s table. It’s a great gift!
Thanks for all the recommendations, Lia. Now I know what to get my dad, who’s just starting to geek out on wine, but doesn’t like to listen to me
Leah . . . You’re so very welcome–I’m so glad I could help out. And speaking of dad’s . . . mine called after reading this post to tell me it had inspired him of another idea–a brilliant one for my husband. But I can’t share yet, lest I give away the surprise ;-). I’ll just have to add it to next year’s list!
Wonderful gift ideas! I love the wine varietal chart. We have one of French wines in glasses (with grape/region) graded by color from almost clear through almost black… also fun!
Stemless glasses? In our cave we have they typical-local-farmer short stemmed glasses (about an inch) but I’ve not seen stemless. I’ll look in the U.S. next trip back…
This is fantastic! What a huge help - thank you so much Lia!
Katie . . . Glad you like! Personally, I love those little farmer glasses–and the little bistro glasses that are somewhere between a shot glass and a tumbler–for every day drinking. But THOSE are tough to find HERE. Go figure.
Amanda . . . You’re so very welcome! Have fun with it!