Searching for the perfect holiday gift for the wine lover in your life? We’ve got ideas for everything from stocking stuffers (you can never have too many corkscrews!) to gifts for gadget geeks and professional-grade wine region maps for the true student of wine.
Pulltap’s Corkscrew
$7, iwawine.com
The classic waiter’s key is a marvel of simple, efficient design, and these double-hinged versions are Wine Spectator tasting department–approved. They’re also simple to tuck into a pocket (or a stocking), come in pretty much every color of the rainbow, can be personalized, and cost a measly 7 bucks—that’s buy-by-the-case value!
Artificer Wood Works Wine Boxes
Starting at $35, artificerwoodworks.com
There’s a reason that so many of the world’s most sought-after trophy wines come in fancy wood boxes emblazoned with the winery’s logo—it adds an element of luxury that makes the moment you open it feel that much more special. If you’re giving a bottle of wine to a friend or loved one this holiday season, you can add that same level of sophistication with a personalized wood box from Artificer Wood Works. The boxes are made from aspen and Baltic birch, come in a range of sizes and finishes and can be customized in limitless ways. Artificer also plants one tree for every product sold through a partnership with Trees for the Future, a non-profit working to end hunger and poverty among farmers on degraded lands around the world.
Of course, you might be reading this at the last minute, in which case you'll want to check out our video for tips on how to personalize a gift bottle with all kinds of fancy gift-wrapping ideas …
Wine by Your Side Ice Bucket
$110, enjoywinebyyourside.com
This innovative ice bucket saves valuable space by easily but securely affixing to a table or counter via a steel extension with rubber-sleeved ends that both grip and protect your surfaces. The stainless-steel bucket is double-walled to both prevent sweating and keep ice from prematurely melting. Just add wine!
DIY Blind Tastings with the WineGame App
Free download, winegame.com
Speaking of entertaining, any wine lover with a smartphone will appreciate the WineGame app from chef José Andrés' ThinkFoodGroup, available on iOS and GooglePlay. All your party needs is four bottles of wine and a way to conceal them for the blind-tasting element. (Kraft wrap, perhaps?) Just make sure no one peeks! Here's how it works: The designated host enters the information about the wines into the app to begin a new game. They can then invite others with the app (did we mention it's free?) to join. Each player samples the wines blind, and the app generates questions about the wines' grapes, regions and vintages. Clues and second guesses are welcome, but the attainable points diminish with each incorrect answer. Technically the person with the most points wins, but we all know that no one loses when it comes to wine tasting.
Savino Connoisseur Wine-Saving Carafe
$50, savinowine.com
In a perfect world, we would open and enjoy our wine all in the same day, but there's often some leftover after cooking or having a glass after work. This wine-preserving glass carafe keeps wine fresher than leaving it in the bottle with the cork, for up to a week. Just pour your leftover wine into the Savino carafe, then insert the provided float that protects the wine from oxygen. When you're ready to have another glass, you can easily pour from the carafe—no need to remove the float. Once you've finished off the wine, just run Savino through the dishwasher and it's ready to save more wine and money!
Rabbit LED Bottle Stoppers
$16, rabbitwine.com
While wine is naturally one of the highlights of any outdoor party or occasion, now it can literally light up the celebration with these L.E.D. bottle stoppers. This set of 2 batteries-included stoppers is good for 96 hours of festive bottle-topping nightlighting. They make for a great stocking stuffer!
De Long Wine Region Maps
Starting at $20, delongwine.com
For the wine lover who loves to learn about where their wine came from, these De Long wine region maps are the perfect addition to a home, cellar or office. The maps, which can also be purchased handsomely framed, are available for a dozen wine regions, from California to France to New Zealand and beyond, and include index booklets for more context. Now you can learn as you sip!
Zingerman's Oil & Vinegar Odyssey Gift Box
$45, zingermans.com
Oil and vinegar are great staples for any kitchen, but the kitchen of a wine lover would especially benefit from a gift box filled with Spanish red wine vinegar that's been barrel aged for four years. Combine it with the extra-virgin olive oil for a vinaigrette that's something to celebrate any time of year.
