2013 Holiday Gift Guide: 6 Gifts for the Wine Lover on Your List
Since men and woman can’t live on beer alone, here are a handful of helpful suggestions for wine lovers. From timid beginner to boastful seasoned expert, there’s something for everyone here to enhance their appreciation and enjoyment of their favorite beverage.
If you are looking for tips on what wines to purchase for holiday gatherings, check out The Drink Nation Wine Shopping Cheat Sheet. And for a crash course in bubbly, be sure to look over The Drink Nation’s tips for picking good champagne. Now, on to the gifts.
Riedel Vinum Bordeaux Wine Glasses:
You surely can’t go wrong with glasses. And this set — eight for the price of six — is a great deal. Crafted from 24 percent lead crystal, for exceptional clarity and brilliance, these glasses actually give a boost to your overall enjoyment of wine. The large bowls provide enough room for wines’ bouquet to open up, while the design directs the wine to the area of drinkers’ palates that perceive sweetness, emphasizing the fruit and mellowing the acidity or any gnarly edges.
Vinturi Essential Wine Aerator:
Inpatient wine connoisseurs will love the convenience of this tiny gem. It opens your vino’s bouquet almost as fast as you can pour it. No decanter necessary. The aerator’s specially positioned air vents speeds up the breathing process by instantly aerating wine as it passes through the six-inch, acrylic cylinder.
Corkcicle Classic Wine Chiller:
For those who like their white wine properly chilled, this handy device is a godsend. Simply keep it frozen in your freezer, and when it’s time to enjoy some wine, uncork the bottle, and slip the Corkcicle in for a few minutes until you get your desired temperature.
Even the most well-read wine snobs among us will enjoy this latest, seventh edition, update to the well-revered wine tome. In it, learn and understand the changing nature of the worldwide wine scene. The Atlas details the latest in climate, techniques and contemporary tastes as well as noting new regulations made in the years since the book’s last major revision.
The Essential Scratch and Sniff Guide to Becoming a Wine Expert:
Master sommelier Richard Betts and wine world outsider came up with this fun and unfussy approach to learning about the joys that wine offers. Inside he uses 16 scratch-and-sniff scents to illustrate the basic components of wine.
Hello, Wine: The Most Essential Things You Need to Know About Wine:
For something a little more advanced, try this helpful guide, which serves as a solid primer for newbs looking for a jumping off point for enjoying wine. Everything from how to drink and the fundamentals of grape varietals to recommendations and palate-building exercises are covered.
For more gift ideas, check out the Drink Nation's 2013 Holiday Gift Guide
Tags: Education, Gifts, Holiday, Wine