Wine Sense: Holiday Wine Gifts

By James Adams

Holiday time is here and with it comes the tradition of gift giving. Over the past few years, wine gifts have become extremely popular items. You have a person on your list that’s into wine, you go buy them a nice bottle, and that’s that. What could be simpler? For those that are not into wine, what could be more complicated?

For those that are very familiar with wine and have their own distinct preferences and favorites, buying wine for someone else is an easy task. They most often choose a wine that is one of their favorites to share. They can buy for another experienced person or an inexperienced person with confidence. They share their personal experience with the wine and provide what amounts to a personal recommendation to the recipient.

Those who are just getting into wine are successful when sharing a wine with another person of a similar experience level. It’s people who are inexperienced or not into wine trying to buy a wine gift for an experienced person that are treading on thin ice.

The question I field most often is, “I want to buy my boss a nice bottle of wine. What should I get?” On the surface this scenario is problematic, but not quite an impossible mission.

If you happen to know a person’s wine preferences or favorite wines, it’s worth taking a stab at it. That being said, the last thing you should do is purchase by price alone. Far too many things can go wrong with that approach. You can easily overpay for a mediocre wine or not pay enough to get a quality wine.

For example, $15 may get a good Zinfandel, but a not so good Pinot Noir. In contrast $35 will buy a very good Cabernet Sauvignon, but is certainly excessive for a Chardonnay.

A safe area to explore for a wine purchase, regardless of the experience level of the buyer or the recipient, is to purchase something a little different from the mainstream varietals.

Personal preferences and opinionated palates dominate the world of Cabernet, Merlot, Zinfandel, Pinot Noir, Syrah, and Chardonnay. My suggestion is to avoid all those (unless it happens to be a favorite of the recipient), and go for something unusual.

The most interesting and non-mainstream wines are found among the wines and varietals from Spain, Italy, Chile, and Argentina.
Tempranillo is a varietal of Spanish origin, and it is becoming very popular. The wine is medium-bodied and flavorful, with a spicy character that makes it a very pleasant wine.

California wineries use the varietal name for this wine, while the Spanish import version is a Rioja. Sangiovese is another varietal that has both a domestic and a European version.

Sangiovese can range from light- to full-bodied, with pleasant fruit up front, good acidity and a pleasant finish.

California versions tend to be 100% Sangiovese. The Italian import is called Chianti, which is always a blend.

Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon can be very good, although they are not as inexpensive as they were 5 years ago.

Argentinean Malbec is a fantastic wine, with a very unusual flavor profile. There are California Malbec wines, but they are somewhat rare and typically pricey.

A California varietal that still manages to catch a lot of people by surprise is Petite Sirah. A common misconception is this is the same grape as Syrah. Nothing could be further from the truth.

The flavor profile of these two wines is very different. Finer Syrahs should really be aged for 2 to 3 years following release to allow the tannins to calm down and the flavor profile to emerge.

Petite Sirah can be considered Syrah’s elegant and refined cousin. The flavor profile is deep, rich, dark berry fruit and chocolate. There are typically layers of complexity and a long, lingering finish. They are quite enjoyable at release and generally age quite a long time.

One final suggestion: Buy a bottle of the wine you plan to gift and try it yourself before giving. If you don’t like it, don’t give it as a gift.

Ideally, you should be able to describe the wine to the recipient, and tell them what they can look forward to. Just think back to the temper tantrum thrown by the character in the movie Sideways, and don’t give a bottle of Merlot.

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