Dec 23, 2017
In this solo podcast, I give you a bunch of ideas to make gift giving and holiday pairing easy!
Here are the show notes:
1. First I talk about potential all-purpose wines that will work for a lot of different holiday foods:
The reds:
- Sonoma, California Syrah or Cabernet Sauvignon
- Chilean Syrah
- Côtes-du-Rhône (or Gigondas, Châteauneuf-du-Pape)
- Bordeaux -- specifically Merlot-based, and look for the Cru Bourgeois label
The whites:
- Santa Barbara, California Chardonnay
- South African or New Zealand Chardonnay
- Chenin Blanc from South Africa or Loire
- White Rhône blends from California or Rhône
Rhône producers I mentioned: E. Guigal, Chapoutier
2. Then I gift some questions to ask before buying wine as a gift for someone:
- What do they usually drink?
- What do they eat?
- What kind of person are they -- adventuresome or less so?
3. Finally I hit on gift ideas:
- Waiter's corkscrew
- Sparkling wine stopper
- Foil cutter
- Vacuvin or just the stoppers
- Wine accessories gift set
- Jane Anson's "Wine Revolution: The World's Best Organic, Biodynamic, and Craft Wines"
- Oz Clarke books, including: "Grapes and Wines", which I love as an easy reference book
- A Wine for Normal People gift certificate!
- An Amazon gift certificate (where they can buy the stuff above, or starting in January you can send them to my winefornomalpeople.com and link to these and more wine gifts I recommend!)
- Plastic or stainless steel ice cubes
Thank you to our sponsor:
The Great Courses Plus -- who makes you smarter and more well rounded! With thousands of outstanding video lectures that you can watch or listen to any time and anywhere, The Great Courses Plus is an easy way to stimulate your brain and make you smarter! For a free month trial, go to thegreatcoursesplus.com/wine
Happy Holidays! Thank you for listening and for you being such an awesome audience!