Gimme, Gimme, Gimme.

With the holidays upon us, I know all of my friends are trying to figure out what to get me for Christmas.  While a bottle of wine is always a good call for a wine lover, if you’re not sure what kind of wine they like, another gift option is a wine accessory, and there are plenty of good options there…

WINE GIFTS:

A good friend of mine loves his Venturi Wine Aerator, which for between 30-60 bucks (depending on the model) will allegedly give your wine a better bouquet, enhanced flavor and a smoother finish and mixes in just the right amount of air.  I have yet to try it, but yesterday he demonstrated it with water, and my one observation was; ‘Damn, that thing is noisy’. He loves it though.

Another item that people rave about is a good wine thermometer.  You can always look like a pro when you serve a particular varietal at its optimum temperature.

The EuroCave Sowine Home wine bar is a pretty cool wine gadget (I find that many wine lovers, like myself, also love a gadget…).  It preserves an open wine bottle up to 10 days, and it looks pretty sweet.  (I don’t generally have a ‘leftover wine’ problem, but that’s just me.

If they don’t have one, or if there’s is about to run out, a subscription to WineSpectator is a sure bet.

Winelabel.com offers a pretty cool custom label and bottle etching service that provides a personal touch.

Some folks like a gift basket; for them, look no further than winebasket.com.

Finally, there’s the “You Had Me At Merlot” t-shirt.  No explanation needed here.

In the end there are plenty of options… rabbit corkscrews, wine racks…  Riedel glasses are always a hit (and take it from me, with the average of one broken glass every 3 weeks, there’s always a need), or you can make it easy and get a gift card from their favorite wine store.  Online wine stores also sell gift cards, like wine.com , bevmo.com, and our favorite, K&L wine merchants.

For more gift ideas, check out The Wine Enthusiast or FortheWineLover.com. If you’re having your gift ship, you’re almost out of time to get it shipped in time for Christmas, so double check on that, and be prepared to pay a little extra for rush shipping.  Happy gift giving and happy holidays!