Finding suitable gifts for a serious wine lover can be tricky. If they’re serious enough, they’ve already got most of what they want or need when it comes to wine. That’s why I put together a gift guide each year filled with things that are excellent gifts for the wine lover who already has everything.
There are always two things noticeably absent from this guide, and very much on purpose. The first is any recommendation of specific bottles of wine. People shake their heads at me when I say it, but I really don’t recommend buying bottles of wine for the wine lovers in your life unless you are absolutely, positively, 100% sure that it’s a wine they adore.
When it comes to special bottles, most wine lovers would prefer to shop for themselves (which is why gift cards for wine are on my list below). Of course, if you know for sure that bottle of Soldera Brunello is going to bring tears to their eyes, go for it. But otherwise, stay away from specific bottles.
It almost (but not quite) goes without saying that wine club subscriptions are to be entirely avoided. And don’t get me started about wine aerators. Please, for the love of all things holy, don’t ever buy a wine aerator.
The second thing you’ll notice missing from the list below is a fancy crystal wine decanter. That’s because while they’re easy gifts to give, generally they suck. They can be expensive as hell, they take up a ton of cabinet space, they’re a pain in the ass to clean, and most of them lack the most basic of ergonomic affordances that would make them easy to use (handles, anyone?).
As far as I’m concerned the world’s best decanter is a lemonade pitcher or a simple carafe (even a vase) that you can actually get your arm inside with a sponge and can replace easily if you drop it or chip it.
But enough about what’s not in here. Let’s talk about what I have included. I’ve got you covered from the simplest and least expensive wine stocking stuffers, to solid, moderately-priced wine gifts, to some of the fanciest, most exclusive and stylish wine-related accessories on the planet. And everything else in between.
In the list below you’ll find gifts that even the fussiest and most well-stocked wine lovers in your life will appreciate.
Happy holidays.
Stocking Stuffers
When you’re looking for something inexpensive, here’s a range of gift ideas from $5 to $50 that aren’t run of the mill.
The BEST SPARKLING BOTTLE STOPPER
Now, finishing a bottle of Champagne or sparkling wine, once opened, should not be that much of a problem, but occasionally everyone ends up with a bottle you want to save for another day. You could shove a regular wine cork into that bottle, but there’s no guarantee it will fit, or if it does, that it will seal very well. That’s where sparkling bottle stoppers come in handy. However, not all these devices are created equal, and in particular, not all of them will fit every bottle you come across. But this one will. Rather than having a rubber piece that goes into the neck of the bottle, this one has a small rubber pad that seals the top of the bottle, as the spring-loaded side clamps grab hold of the bottle securely. It offers a tight seal that does an excellent job of preserving the bubbles. Every bubbly lover should have at least one. $18.95 each. Buy them at Amazon.
Filtering Wine Funnel
I don’t use it all that often, but there are times when I absolutely need this little sucker, usually after a cork has disintegrated into the bottle. It’s billed as an aerating funnel, which is a little ridiculous since the action of pouring wine through it would aerate the wine just fine, even if it didn’t have the little sideways holes at the end. But I love the fact that the screen and the funnel are separate, which makes the whole contraption easy to clean. You can buy it on Amazon for $13.33
Simple Wine Carriers
I’ve got more stylish (and far more expensive) options for carrying wine around below, but I have to say that my default way of dragging a couple of bottles over to a friend’s house or out to dinner is with one of these Built neoprene wine carriers. They’re padded, sturdy, slightly insulating, and sophisticated enough that I don’t feel at all self-conscious showing up at a restaurant with one of these in tow. From $19.14 at Amazon.
Wearable, Insider Wine Humor
How do you know someone is really a wine insider? They show up to a wine tasting wearing one of Andre Mack’s t-shirts. Mack is a sommelier-turned-winemaker, as well as one heck of a t-shirt designer. Most people I know in the wine business have at least one of his shirts. My favorites include the Oscar Jayer (My Bourgogne has a second name, it’s J-A-Y-E-R), and Barolo King. The shirts run $25 a piece and you can check out the full selection of delicious logo jokes and other wine ironies at Maison Noir.
The Best Stemware Cleaning Device
Washing your nice wine glasses is always an exercise in gentle deliberate movements. But that’s invariably when most delicate glasses are broken (other than being accidentally knocked onto the floor). You have to be careful when washing stemware, but on the other hand, sometimes they can be a royal pain to clean, especially if, like me, you have slightly larger hands that don’t always fit along with that brush into the bowl of the glass. This inexpensive little device, then, is your savior. Wonderfully soft and shaped perfectly for wine glasses, it makes quick work of cleaning any glass. $9.98. Available at Amazon.
Gift Certificates for Wine
If all else fails, I don’t know a single wine lover who wouldn’t love a gift certificate to their favorite local wine store. Not all wine stores offer gift certificates, but I’m sure you can find one in your area. If you’re looking for some suggestions, I recommend the following stores that can ship nationally:
Crush Wine Co. in New York
Flatiron Wines in San Francisco
Flatiron Wines in New York
Gary’s Wine and Marketplace in New Jersey
K&L Wines in California
More Substantial Gifts
The Essence of Wine Coffee Table Book
This is a fantastic book. How do I know? I wrote it. A coffee table book of photographs and essays about the many flavors and aromas of wine, it is a collaboration between yours truly and award-winning food photographer Leigh Beisch and her art director Sara Slavin. The photographs are stunningly gorgeous, and the essays aren’t half bad either. For each of the 46 different aromas profiled in the book, I offer wine recommendations that you can seek out to experience that particular flavor or aroma. The book won The Chairman’s Award at the 2015 Louis Roederer International Wine Writers Awards, and even the New York Times said nice things about it. If your favorite foodie or wine lover doesn’t have a copy yet, it’s a sure-fire gift that’s bound to please. $75, plus $12 for first-class shipping. Buy it from me directly.
Wine Maps
Antonio Galloni has been building his own empire of wine criticism and resources after leaving the employ of Robert Parker in 2013. One of the more interesting, valuable, and beautiful efforts he has undertaken since then has been his work with acclaimed cartographer Alessandro Masnaghetti to create incredibly detailed maps of Napa Valley and its sub-appellations, including many named vineyards. They come in handy folded formats, rolled and suitable for framing, and first-edition signed prints, costing $25, $50, and $500 respectively. Buy them at Vinous.
Masnaghetti also has an amazing set of maps for Piedmont and the Left Bank of Bordeaux, not to mention an encyclopedia of the new Barolo MGAs. You can find all of these starting at $15.95 for the maps at The Rare Wine Co.
Finally, Steve DeLong has been making excellent wine maps for years, and you can see his whole assortment, starting at $30 over at DeLong Wine.
The Ultimate WINE REFERENCE GUIDE
There are a lot of good wine books out there that might qualify for the description “essential” for a serious wine lover, but few can match the depth, utility, or comprehensiveness of the Oxford Companion to Wine. The 5th edition of this indispensible reference work has recently been released and it has been overhauled in a major way by hundreds of contributors (including yours truly). The new edition is 25% longer than the previous, and features many new additions as well as completely rewritten entries for the majority of its content, updated with the latest facts and figures. It’s big, it’s heavy, and it’s not cheap but it’s got answers to a lot of wine questions, and is guaranteed to be more reliable than ChatGPT. I use mine several times per month. Get it for $54.61 hardcover from Amazon.
The Durand Wine Opener for Older Wines
If you’re dealing with a serious wine lover, especially one who regularly opens older bottles of wine, you can’t find a better gift for them than The Durand wine tool. Specifically designed to deal with the most fragile of corks, this handy little tool is an awesome piece of wine equipment. I use mine all the time, and it has saved me from the dreaded dissolving-cork syndrome more than a few times. It’s worth every penny of its $145 price tag. Available from The Durand.
Inexpensive Wine Storage and Racking
When someone is ready to start actually storing their wine (as opposed to just shoving it in some corner) the question of racks or shelving immediately arises. There are an infinite number of approaches and almost an infinite amount of money that can be spent on the creation of a proper wine cellar, but for most mortals, something more practical is in order. That’s where these ingenious stacking wine bins come in. Now they’re not gorgeous cedar racks that showcase every bottle individually, but most people don’t have that option. Instead, these are sturdy crates that each hold 12 bottles (or 6 magnums) and that can be stacked 6 or 7 high. The handy drop-down access door allows you to pull out a bottle or three even when stacked. They’re not sexy, but they really do the trick. They start at $75 for three of them or $216 for nine. Available at DomaineStorage.
Fun With Bubbly and Friends
Juvenile? Yes. A waste of good sparkling wine? Probably. Kinda fun regardless? Totally. This little device, the Bubbly Blaster turns any bottle of sparkling wine into a spray gun. You can shoot people from 25 feet away with a thin stream of sparkling wine. If you’re really talented or ambitious you can try to get it into their mouths or glasses, but honestly, this is just about being ridiculously conspicuous, which is why the damn thing looks gold-plated. On the other hand, the thing doubles as a bottle-stopper, which keeps your bottle fresh if you leave it in. So if you know someone who wants moments in their life that feel like a party of super-rich people at an expensive resort, then this is precisely the gift for them. There’s even (sigh) a version that comes with an iPhone mount for ‘da Gram. Starting at $99 at the Bubbly Blaster web site.
A Subscription to the World of Fine Wine
Easily the best wine periodical in the world, each hefty, quarterly issue of The World of Fine Wine is more like a book than a magazine. Filled with great photography, fantastic writing, and top-quality wine criticism, this magazine will appeal to anyone who brings a bit of an intellectual bent to their wine appreciation. I like to think of it as Granta for wine. The World of Fine Wine is where some of the best wine writing is being done today. $230 per year for a US Subscription printed on dead trees. You can also get digital subscriptions as well through their handy iPhone and iPad app, which may be preferable for those who don’t want to have these big thick magazine stack up around the house (as beautiful as they are, they do really take up a lot of shelf-space after a few years). Digital subscriptions will run you roughly $80 per year. Purchase a gift subscription at World of Fine Wine.
The Best Everyday Wine Glasses
You know all that talk about the different wine glasses you need for different grape varieties? It’s all hogwash. You need only one glass for red, white, and sparkling wines, and for most people this Schott Zwiesel Tritan will suffice. Titanium crystal is the sturdiest stuff on the market, and this glass is both visually elegant, modern in style, and perfectly shaped for wine. It also happens to be quite reasonably priced for a top-quality wine stem. This is what I use at home when I’m not drinking from my precious set of Zaltos (see below). Less than $90 for a set of six. I like the “Red Wine / Water” size of glass. If you want larger glasses, go for their Cabernet stem, if you want slightly smaller glasses, choose their Sauvignon Blanc stem. Each will do the trick for any wine. Buy on Amazon.
EVERYDAY Wine Preservation with THE CORAVIN PIVOT
Coravin changed the game when it came to drinking a single glass of any wine without opening the bottle (see more expensive gifts below). But they haven’t stopped innovating. Their Pivot product, released a couple of years ago, now makes it possible to drink a bottle of wine over the course of a week or two without any loss in quality due to oxidation. Simply uncork the bottle, immediately pop in one of the Pivot wine stoppers, and then attach the pivot device which you then use to pour a glass (or two) of wine. Remove the device, close the cap and throw the bottle into the fridge until the next time you want a glass. It’s as simple as it is ingenious, and the argon capsules seem to last a long time. Currently on sale for $179 at Amazon.
Turn Wine Leftovers into Artisan Vinegar
Sometimes you don’t want to drink the leftovers, or sometimes you don’t get around to it. So why not put them to some use? Most wine lovers I know also happen to be foodies and appreciate the difference between good vinegar and bad vinegar. This 5-liter oak barrel (which you could even personalize with a name) is the perfect way to make and age your own wine vinegar. Just simply add a little high-quality vinegar to start, and then gradually fill up the barrel with unused, good-quality wine, and violá. I’ve been using one for three or four years now and the vinegar is starting to get really good as the initial oak charring on the inside of the barrel becomes less perceptible. It takes about 4-6 months for each batch of wine to go from wine to something ready for salad dressing. $109 for the 5-liter version. Other sizes are available. Buy at Amazon.
Ultimate Indulgences — The Expensive Stuff
If price is not an issue, and you want to get your favorite wine geek something special, here’s a list of gifts at which no one can turn up their nose.
The Ultimate Wine Glass
There are wine glasses, and then there are wine glasses. Not too long ago, the folks at Zalto reset the bar for what truly fine, modern crystal wine glasses could be. Drinking from an incredibly delicate stem like this represents the most luxurious way to appreciate any wine. If money is no object and you’re looking for a treat to give your favorite wine lover, there are few things that will impress as much as these glasses. Lead-free, handblown crystal. $78 each. I recommend their so-called Universal Glass. Buy them from The Manufactory.
Carry Wine Bottles With Class
I don’t know about you, but I’m thrilled at the opportunity to have dinner with friends again. And when the opportunity arises, I’m bringing wines from my cellar because, well, life’s too short. It’s time to drink great wine with friends again. So when schlepping wine over to someone’s house for dinner or out to a restaurant, you want to carry the wine safely, securely, and (for some) stylishly. Which is where a really nice leather wine tote comes in. This one from Royce will set you back $300.
Temperature Makes a Big Difference
Wine refrigerators are something of a fraught topic for wine collectors, and there seems to be almost no price ceiling for these appliances. Anyone looking to store more than 80 bottles or so will have a lot of specific criteria for a wine fridge, not least of which involves the dimensions of the space where said fridge will live. But for those who might have more modest needs, like keeping a few dozen bottles chilled to the correct temperature in their kitchen, smaller wine chillers can be quite handy. The primary key feature you want in a wine fridge are drawers that pull out to let you see the bottles and easily access the bottles. This particular little no-frills unit can be built into a cabinet or sit freestanding. It also happens to be on sale right now at a serious discount. Find it at Lowe’s for $446.
Drink Still Wine Without Opening the Bottle
The Coravin has quickly revolutionized the wine world in its own small way, by allowing us all to have a glass of wine from any (non-sparkling) wine without removing the cork. Since hitting the market 11 years ago it has literally transformed by-the-glass wine lists around the world, not to mention changing the way that many people drink their wines. The company now has a dizzying number of different models to choose from, many of which have bells and whistles that I don’t necessarily think are worth the extra money. My recommendation would be the Timeless Model Six, priced at $349 at Amazon.
If you really must saber your bubbly…
Sabering champagne is a party trick that will impress anyone who hasn’t seen it before. But for anyone who wants to drink some good Champagne, chopping the top off of your Champagne bottle (and the preparation required to do it properly) simply takes far too much effort. However, if you’re going to do it, you might as well do it with class. Provided you don’t have a sword hanging on the wall somewhere already, you’d do far worse than to use this stylish modern saber from the masters of silver, Georg Jensen. You can find it on Amazon for $169.
Fly Safely With Wine
Figuring out how to bring some excellent bottles of wine with you on vacation can be tricky. There’s the roll-it-up-in-a-t-shirt approach to traveling with wine, and then there’s the classy way: the VinGarde Valise. It’s simple. The Valise is a specialized suitcase that holds 12 bottles of wine, plus a change of clothes, and all but guarantees that your precious oeno-cargo gets there safely. The maker of this suitcase recently went bankrupt, but the products are still available for a period of time, so get one while you can! The 12-bottle model starts at $369. Available at Amazon. 5 and 8 bottle versions are also available.
Learn About and Celebrate Australian Wine
We tend to throw around the word “authoritative” casually in this day and age of hyperbole, and with deep and constantly changing subject like wine, approaching authoritative remains mighty hard to do. But there’s no better word to describe the monumental work of scholarship that is the three-volume set, The Australian Ark by Master of Wine Andrew Caillard. Hugely impressive, incredibly informative, beautifully illustrated, this is the book on Australian wine for all time. If you know someone who prides themselves on a rich library of wine books, they need this one in it. Hardcover edition will run you $401 from Academie du Vin Library.
Keep Your Picnic Wines Cool AND CLASSY
There’s nothing worse than a warm bottle of rosé when you’ve got plans for a day at the beach or a picnic in the park. Sure, you could take some ice packs and throw them in a bag, or you could lug a big cooler around, but sometimes what you really need is just a cold couple bottles of wine. Enter the Fieldbar insulated wine carrier. It can hold two wine bottles (plus a couple bottles of beer) and thanks to sturdy insulation, keep them chilled for hours. Available from $235 at Harrods.Com
Teach your nose
The best way to train your nose and palate to be able to identify the flavors and aromas of wine is simply to taste and smell widely. There’s no substitute for scraping your fingernail down the side of a Meyer lemon to really experience the aroma and remember it. But even leaving aside the seasonal availability of many fruits, flowers, and herbs, a lot of things we can smell in wine aren’t easy to track down in their “native” form so to speak. That’s where Le Nez du Vin comes in, with its 54 bottles of aromas for you to sniff and study. Try it blind with a partner, a few aromas at a time, and see if you can improve your sniffing abilities over the course of a month or two. Available from WineAromas.Com for $399. Less extensive versions of the kit also available for a lower price.
Vintage Wine Posters
Wine advertising hasn’t been the same since about 1895. No seriously. The big illustrated posters advertising wines around the turn of the century represent a high point in wine marketing, in my opinion. These days, they’re collector’s items and an original vintage print will set you back a couple of thousand dollars. But they’re beautiful and make wonderful additions to dining rooms, living rooms, studies, and yes, wine cellars, provided you’ve got one big enough to hang out in, let alone with wall space for one of these beauties. There are lots of places to buy such posters online, for various three-to-four-digit price tags, such as Antiqueposters.Com or Vintageposters.Us
The Maserati of Corkscrews
Know someone who opens a ton of wine and would appreciate the difference between an ordinary corkscrew and something James Bond might use? If you’re really looking to impress someone, or if your recipient happens to be a wine professional, they will certainly love using the Code 38 Wine Key, which brings precision engineering and fantastic modern styling to the simple corkscrew. Extravagant? Yes. Totally swanky? Definitely. The basic model starts at $365, and the most tricked-out Titanium version will run you close to $900. Available from Code 38.
A License to Chill
Like many accessories made specifically for wine lovers, the standard ice bucket can certainly be done without or replaced by much more utilitarian alternatives, such as stock pots, paint buckets, salad bowls, etc. But there are times when you either want to make a statement or times when you want a little more aesthetic pleasure from the things you use. And then there are times when you don’t want to chill just one bottle, but five. So perhaps you want a fancier ice bucket? This beautifully modern “Noe” bucket is brought to you by the mavens of Italian design, Alessi. $403, and available at Amazon.
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Best of luck in your holiday shopping, and remember, a glass or two of wine will make this whole process a lot easier. Happy holidays and happy drinking!!
Disclosures: In case you care, I receive affiliate fees from any Amazon purchases.
Image at top created with MidJourney AI.
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