Wine Gift Baskets: Next Christmas, Encourage the Enthusiast in Your Family

Family Christmas and holiday gifts get more difficult with time. After they already have everything they want and are tired of the basics they need, giving the right person wine gifts can be an effective and easy way to satisfy their appetite for culture and show your thoughtfulness at the same time. Admittedly, the wine enthusiast in the family is rarely difficult to find good gifts for, so long as you are willing to venture into weird novelty items or seek the advice of an expert. But if the person really knows wine, the odds that you can find something that you know he or she will enjoy are not that great. This is where wine gift baskets come in. They let you take several small risks, increasing the chances that at least one thing in the basket will be enjoyable enough.

People who love wine and care about the science of tasting it can be the most difficult people to give wine gifts because they understand details the average wine drinker doesn't even know how to identify. One route is to just learn what they like, then go to a high-quality wine shop and ask for two bottles that are very similar with minor variations. The goal is to help the recipient find new regions, new wineries, or even new wines and grapes that he or she can enjoy. Everybody likes broadening their horizons so this approach is relatively low-risk. There is the chance he or she will not particularly like either bottle - and usually it makes the most sense to include two bottles of wine in a wine basket, especially when the recipient has particular tastes and so one might be a miss - but this just further emphasizes the beauty of a wine gift basket.

Because you should include glasses and a wine opener in the basket so the recipient can share it with at least one other person, even if both bottles are a flop for that person, the other items can make up for it. Of course, a real wine enthusiast may have the coolest wine opener and expensive stemware, so you might have to put in some extra thought to figure out what impressive accessories to include beyond these basics. Wine resealers, some snacks that are expertly matched with one of the bottles, a book about the history of the vineyard where the grapes were grown, or maybe a gift certificate to his or her favorite wine store are all great inclusions to round out the contents of the basket.

Remember, even if the person is somewhat of a wine snob, many wine gift baskets are meant to be enjoyed by multiple people. So giving mom a gift basket that includes the right pieces to share a romantic evening with dad means that even if the bottles aren't exactly to her liking, the gesture will still not only be appreciated but also make her feel good. The point is to have some fun, satisfy the desire to give a thoughtful gift that the person will actually enjoy, and make family gift-giving over the holidays as successful as possible.

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