If you have run out of good ideas and you don’t know what to give to a respected person who seems to have everything, we will help you with advice on how to choose a suitable wine. Of course, such a gift will be useful for those who love and respect this drink, but wine is not only a solid gift, but also an emotion that pleases any gourmet.

Where to buy and who to trust

 

The best place to buy wine for a gift is a specialty wine store. There you can trust the wine seller and there they will tell you which wine will be the most suitable for you. It is here that you can meet an experienced and professional seller who will be able to match the wine as precisely as possible to your needs. How to recognize him, this great seller? Everything is quite simple, the seller, who is interested in individual choice, will not start offering you the most expensive or the cheapest wine, the most popular or the wine at a promotional price! Price will not be the main criterion for him. Such a seller will ask you a few questions about who you are going to give the wine to, what foods and wines the recipient likes, and other pertinent questions that will make it easier for him to make the right choice. Try to find out as much as possible about the taste of the recipient so that your gift is flawless.

Supermarkets and outlets are not the best option when looking for wine for a gift, firstly, be prepared that you will have to search for unknown bottles and labels in the jungle yourself, secondly, the recipient will hardly be happy to see the gifted wine on the store shelf with a price tag, because once in a while he goes there to shop.

Pirkt vīnu

The Internet could be a solution, but in order to be completely sure of the selected wine, its quality and the storage of its contents, you need extensive experience when buying wine online. If you don’t have such confidence, you shouldn’t take the risk. If only because it is not always possible to predict the delivery time in advance. If you do decide to buy wine for a gift online, at least check the prices and professional reviews of this wine and specific vintage years on several websites. It is better to plan such a purchase in advance so that the order reaches you before the important date.

Iepirkties internetā

What to give to whom?

 

 

The most difficult thing is to choose a wine, so as not to present a rich and dense wine to a lover of fine and elegant wines, and vice versa. If the choice of wine is up to you, we can help you with some suggestions. However, it will be best if you find out what wines the potential recipient of your gift drinks. For example, knowing that your friend or loved one likes France will not be enough, because this country has wines of all possible styles, sometimes completely opposite to each other.

 

Therefore, it is important to know the answer to the question, what style of wines does the recipient like?

 

Viegli un augļauni vai blīvi un piesātināti, sausi vai saldi, varbūt priekšroka tiek dota dzirkstošajiem vīniem vai, tieši otrādi, jūsu paziņa ciena stiprinātos vīnus. Atbildes uz šiem jautājumiem jūs tuvinās mērķim.

Don’t risk it and choose a classic! There are plenty of long-term wines (more than ten years) on the market, and choose wine from proven regions such as Bordeaux, Burgundy, Rhone Valley in France, Tuscany and Piedmont in Italy, Priorat and Ribera del Duero in Spain.

 

If you decided to gift an old, aged wine to a wine connoisseur, you need to make sure that the sample you have chosen was properly stored before it came into your hands, as well as how long it can be stored and whether its vintage year was good. The ratings of vintages in specific regions will help you here, you can look, for example, at the website of the famous wine critic Robert Parker www.robertparker.com/resources/vintage-chart or at the website of the respected wine publication Wine Spectator www.winespectator.com/vintage-charts.

A gift for a beginner

 

 

For those who are just starting to get acquainted with the world of wine, it is better to give not one expensive bottle, but to create a set of three or even six bottles of wine on a specific theme and at a more democratic price. Because knowledge about wine can be gained by comparing! They can be wines from the same country, a separate region or, conversely, wines from the same grape variety but from different places. Professional glasses, accessories, wine dictionaries – beginners will definitely appreciate all of this, besides, there are never too many glasses!

 

Another idea – not wine as a gift, but a gift certificate for an educational lecture. Both wine and knowledge in one gift!

Noble Wine recommends

Noble Wine wine school

A modern wine gift

Today’s tendencies – natural and orange, slightly non-standard format wines. As a rule, these are absolutely “innocent” wines without sulfates, without any other additives, such wines are often not filtered and not subjected to long aging in oak barrels. Be prepared that it will be a completely different style of wine, different from the usual classic version. Sometimes such bottles attract attention with their flashy labels, more like works of modern art than simple stickers. If the gift is intended for an experimental wine lover, then this category of wines could be the right one for just such a person.

Wine for a romantic evening

Sparkling Wine and Champagne – always an infallible option. Take dry blanc de blanc or brut nature if you will serve it with oysters or seafood, champagne blanc de noir goes well with caviar, while traditional Spanish Cava harmoniously complements a cheese or meat plate with jam. Any rosé sparkling is great without a snack, but soft French Cremants are best served with light salads and buttery cheeses. This time without Prosecco – you are preparing for a special romantic evening, not a gathering of girlfriends.

Wine “for girls”

As trivial as it sounds, but for girls who prefer light and aromatic wines, there is a whole group of fruity wines with a slight sweetness in the taste that will delight them. Here is a list of such “candy” options: the aromatic German Riesling from the Moselle, the rosé wines of Provence, especially because of the design of the bottle and the color of the wine, the soft, fruity Prosecco Dry, but for the biggest sweet tooth, take the late-harvest dessert wine from Germany or Austria, the exquisite sweet ice- wine, Italian Vinsanto wines from dried grapes or noble French wines from the Sauternes region. Such wines can replace dessert or serve with a small piece of blue cheese or salty crackers with pate.

Meiteņu vakars

Do you have Primitivo?

Ah, this ubiquitous Primitivo! Wines made from this variety can be bought in any bodija or supermarket. I’m certainly not a hater of this breed, but to give away something that is drunk everyday and even for no particular reason, in my opinion, is uninteresting. In the world of wine, there is a great diversity of variants, wines that are stylistically similar – saturated, thick and dense red wines. Primitivo lovers will be delighted by all Italian wines made from dried grapes, the most respected representative of which is Amarone from Veneto. With the warming of the climate, many red wines from the southern regions confidently show “jamminess” – such are wines from the Rhone Valley, for example Gigonda, Sicilian Nero d’Avolo, Bordeaux red wines, especially from the Good Coast Saint Emilion and Pomerol, only the prices are not so nice… But we are talking about a gift!

A gift for mom

It’s a holy thing, the wine must be the best, the highest quality and – preferably – organic, because mom takes care of her health! Moms are different and so are their wine tastes, but if your mom is a foodie and appreciates dry wines, give her a vintage champagne or white Burgundy wine. She will appreciate it! If you want to pamper your mother with something sweet, then such varieties as Riesling, Gewurztraminer, Muscat will give unforgettable bright aromas. For something stronger, sweet sherry or velvety port will also touch a loving heart.

Don’t forget to pamper yourself

As it often happens, while we are looking for a gift for a friend, we also deserve a gift ourselves…

 

If you have already delved into the topic of wine or come to a wine shop, take the opportunity and choose something for yourself and your family. They can be democratic wines, universal and suitable for any celebration of life and they do not need to mature for a long time in a wine cellar or cabinet. Perhaps you are ready to experiment and discover something new for yourself, so we recommend tasting wines from lesser-known European regions.

Irina Rakeviča

Leave a Reply