Over the years The Wine Lady has been approached regarding the perfect wine to gift to someone. This question leads to more questions.
Do you know if the recipient likes wine? That seems to be a no brainer but really, sometimes we just don't want to think. I feel that.
So we know they like wine. The next question is red or white? Dry or sweet? Both questions will give you a direction in which to go in selecting a good gift. My next question is always are they adventurous or set in their loves? Either one is just fine! I find myself both adventurous and set in my ways. When it's my money I want to ensure it's something I love. When someone gifts me something I'm open to anything and love to try new things.
If you're unsure to any of those questions but really want to gift a wine my default is always a good quality sparkling wine. Why sparkling? If they love wine most wine drinkers will always enjoy having a bottle of bubbles at the ready to enjoy. If they are an occasional or rare wine drinker I assure you there will come a random Sunday that they would like to have a mimosa. And voila! They have a bottle on had to enjoy and will think of you! This is why I specify "good quality" bubbles. This does not mean a bottle of Krug or Dom. An excellent Cava or sparkling wine from California will do the trick!
Wait! I'm staring at a shelf of bubbles and they all look the same? How the heck do I know quality from garbage? Price? The best indicator is to look for the words "Methode Champanois, Methode Traditionalle or Fermented in this bottle" Things are always changing and there may be more out there that indicate it's been fermented in the bottle. Why is this important? When mixing a sparkling wine into a cocktail of any kind the bubbles will last longer when the final fermentation occurred in the bottle. We want those bubble to last!
Which brings me to today. The Wine Lady wanted to gift her neighbor with a bit of wine to thank them for digging her driveway out after a few winter storms. We know he likes dry red wines and is adventurous in what he drinks. Oh! The fun we had choosing a few gems for him! We happened upon Spring Valley Vinyards "Nina Lee" Syrah 2014. Spring Valley Vineyards is a wonderful place that makes amazing red wines. The seller had secured them on closeout and we were happy to grab up a bottle. Our second bottle (the Sping Valley was such a great deal we had money left in the budget for more! We love more!) was a bottle of Villa Antinori Toscana Red 2019. The Villa Antinori is always and adventure. In off years they will put higher end vineyards into this bottling. We just know it'll be delicious!