How to Choose a Wine Gift #winepw

The month our Wine Pairing Weekend #winepw group is tackling the often asked question, “How do I choose wine as a gift.”  It is perplexing.  If you give someone a scarf they can exchange it, but who returns unopened wine.  It can be really hard to know someone else’s taste.  So here is our best stab at how to choose a wine gift.

Tips for How to Choose a Wine Gift:

• Pay attention to the type of wine they order at restaurants or serve in their home and choose something similar.
• If you have no idea what they like, stick with classic grapes/wine styles that people know and enjoy.  Cabernet Sauvignon or Chardonnay are good places to start.  See Holiday Gifts for Wine Lovers for recommendations and a Video of Tasting Pour on NBC talking about how to choose a wine gift.

 

• Give Sparkling wine.  It is festive and comes in a fancy bottle with shiny foil.  Even if they don’t love the wine, they can use it for a sparkling cocktail or a mimosa. See Sparkling Wines for Holiday Gifts for more details.
• Give them a wine you love.  They will appreciate you shared the wine that you treat yourself with.
•  Choose wine based on type of food they like to cook. If they grill out burgers in the summer get them some fun Zinfandel or a great fruity Merlot.  If everyone drools over their chocolate cake, get them a nice port to serve with it.  People who cook love to be known for their best dishes. In addition to giving them wine, you have given them a compliment.  If you need help with wine and food pairing ideas there are tons here from the Wine Pairing Weekend themes and more on the sites linked below.

Speaking of, let’s hear the thoughts of the #winepw group.  Thanks to David at Cooking Chat Food for selecting and hosting this theme.

Giving the Gift of Wine: #winePW blog topics

Here are the topics the #winePW crew will be covering:

Jeff from foodwineclick will share “Holiday Wine Gift Ideas: Not Just Any Champagne“

Cindy from Grape Experiences will post “Wines from The Hess Collection – Will You be Naughty or Nice?”

Here on Cooking Chat we will write about “Christmas Wine Gifts: Tips and Bottles To Give“

Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm will share “Spreading Christmas Cheer“

Michelle from Rockin Red Blog is telling us “How to Give the Gift of Wine“

Gwendolyn from Wine Predator will share “Grateful for Good Gifts, Good Stories with Wineries from Napa Good Gifts“

Culinary Adventures with Camilla is talking about “Sips Worth Sharing“

Jennifer from Vino Travels is covering “Holiday Wines with a Sicilian Flair“

Lauren from The Swirling Dervish is blogging about “Family, Food, and Wine: The Gift of Memories“

Jill from L’Occasion will share “Wine Wrapped Up: The L’occasion Gift Guide“

You can check out past and future #winePW topics by visiting this page.