The One-Stop-Shop for Buying Holiday Wine Gifts

In the spirit of not getting too stressed during the holiday season, I’m covering all things wine gifting. The what-to-buy, the how-to-wrap, and the little extras you can add to the purchase to let someone you love know you care.

First, the what-to-buy.

Virginia and I shared our wine-buying secrets when it comes to gifting wine! We not only selected a few wine styles that we find makes a good wine gift, but we also shared some of our favorite wine brands to buy within each wine style. 

You can listen to our suggestions in the newly released “Voices of the Vine” episode: “Taste, Flavor, and Appeal: Wine Buying Tips for Holiday Gifts.” The attached link will take you directly to the episode’s Show Notes where you’ll find links to show you examples of our go-to wines and a few additional informational pages on wine cocktails, wine cocktail ingredients, and more. 

Or, if you are a podcast subscriber, you can listen to Episode 6 on most podcast platforms. 

Then, dress it up!

I’ve reached in the Sip & Swirl Archive (Sip & Swirl Cellar) to re-share my tips for how to giftwrap wine bottles.

While gifting a bottle of wine in a memorable way can look nice, it can be a challenge to get that bottle wrapped while making it look professional! Unless you found a wine box that can get easily wrapped, wrapping a bottle is a little tricky. Read on, below, to find the several options I like to use for wrapping bottles with how-to instructions on completing each wrapped gift. Half of the giftwrapping options are available in this Sip & Swirl edition here. At the end of the first half of options, there is a link to finish reading through all of the giftwrapping options with additional how-to instructions.

You’ll want to save this Sip & Swirl or the linked page so that you can easily reach those how-to instructions for giftwrapping this holiday season!

Have a Happy Holiday Season

I truly appreciate all of the Wine Lovers that continue to subscribe to the Sip & Swirl. If you want to share these newsletters with another fellow Wine Lover, please do! It’s the best way you can support DG Winemaking during the holiday season, and I truly appreciate the support. 

I hope that you have a WONDERFUL holiday season and look forward to welcoming in the New Year with all of you!

With that… let’s talk more about wine gifts!

Taste, Flavor, and Appeal: Wine Buying Tips for Holiday Gifts

The holiday season is upon us, and I know that finding the perfect gift can be stressful and time consuming. Food and wine make great gifts for many of the adults in our lives. Not only does it reiterate the amount of thought we’ve put into the gift, but it also gives us opportunities to share and celebrate our culture or their culture with each other.

I have fond memories of gifting one of my grandfathers Hickory Farms gift baskets every year. While he knew he was always going to get this gift, the real joy was in sitting down and sharing in tasting the gift basket together. When it comes to gifting wine for adults, you too can share in this joyous occasion. 

Award-winning winemaker, Virginia Mitchell, and I recently sat down to discuss our favorite wines to buy as gifts and the reasons why we like to gift those wines. We’ve included sparkling wines (of course!), rosés, Ruby Ports, and a surprise red wine that is fully appropriate for those cold winter months or future summer bar-B-Q’s. 

Most of our wine-buys are also perfect for wine cocktails. Thus, if you aren’t sure if your wine buy will go over well, our suggestions will give them the gift of turning a wine into a cocktail with ease! We share ingredients that help making cocktails easy as well as our favorite recipes for some of the wines we suggested. 

You won’t want to miss this episode because our wine buying tips will not only save you time, but they’ll also be impressive purchases for the ones you love. Listen to the full episode, “Taste, Flavor, and Appeal” here or through the audio player, below.

Need help wrapping that wine bottle? Check out my how-to’s below!

Gift Wine with Pizzazz

Have you ever thought it takes too much time and effort into making a wine bottle gift look presentable and charming?

Well have no fear!

I’m here to show you how to add a touch of pizzazz to your wine gifts for this holiday season! Whether you’re bringing a bottle of wine to share with the host/hostess of a holiday party, gifting something special to a loved one, or looking for a trendy gift exchange amongst friends, these are tried and true EASY ways to present a bottle of wine.

First, Pick a Wine

Always select a wine your gift recipient loves, or a wine you’d simply love to share.

When in doubt, choose sparkling wine.

I know I go to sparkling wine a lot, but that’s because A) I have a lot of doubt in what people will enjoy, and B) almost everyone enjoys sparkling wine or finds a place in their lives to use it.

Sparkling wines pretty much go with every dinner occasion, as they pair easily with many foods. Plus, bubbly is festive, and this is a festive season! They are going to need a bottle of bubbly in about… 30 days! You could be literally checking off one of their things on their to-do list in the near future. Finally, sparkling wine can easily get sweetened in wine cocktails, which makes it an easy alcohol for mixed wine cocktails.

Otherwise, if you have an idea on what your host or friend would like, choose a wine they will appreciate. Always choose something to their preferences if you know them well.

Or, share a bottle that you simply find enjoyable. I’ve recently shared some of my go-to wine buys when I’m purchasing a wine as a gift in the recent “Voices of the Vine” episode. If you want to have a listen, visit here.

Don’t get overwhelmed in the brand or price; just go with what seems good to you. As you will see in a minute, there are lots of ways to dress up a bottle of wine so that the gift is thoughtful regardless of the brand selection.

Accessories

While wine gift bags are an easy go-to, it’s fairly easy to make a bottle of a wine a little more glamorous and creative with some simple wrapping skills.

One easy way to personalize a bottle of wine is to provide something to pair with it. In my experience, the extra touch goes a long way. Consider how you plan on wrapping the bottle. For example, if you plan on wrapping the bottle with paper then the added accessory has to be small enough to tie to a ribbon. Or you can opt for a larger accessory that the bottle may go alongside in a box, within the item itself or go into something like a gift basket.

Here are some of my favorite accessories to add to a bottle of wine, based on size!

Small Accessories that Tie to a Ribbon:

• Teaspressa Luxe Sugar Cubes (especially great with sparkling wine)
• Corkscrews
• Ornaments
• Cheese Knives
• Stainless Drinking Straws
• Cloth Cocktail Napkins
• Cute Pens/Markers/Pencils
• Honey Sticks
• Sun Catchers or Sun Crystals
• Bracelet
• Tickets to an Event
• Gift Cards or Gift Certificates

Larger Accessories that a Wine Bottle can Fit Into (using the item as the “wrapping paper”):

• Cozy Slippers or Soft Socks
• Tea Towels
• Cloth Napkins
• T-Shirt or Long-Sleeved Shirt

Accessories for a Gift Basket

• Cloth Napkins
• Corkscrews
• Olive Oil and/or Vinegar
• Oil and Vinegar Bottle
• Wine Glasses
• Corkcicle Glasses
• Themed Salt and Pepper Shakers
• Picture Frame
• Scented Candle
• Cheese Board or Plate
• Bar Snacks or Crackers
• Shelf-Stable Cheese
• Decanter Brush and/or Decanter Beads
• Cozy Slippers
• Mulling Spices
• Books
• Cocktail Picks
• Bar Soaps or Bath Bombs
• Nice Pen and Paper/Journal
• Craft Kits
• Napkin Rings
• Wine Journal

Additional Items You’ll Need for Preparing Your Wine Gift

Wine baskets aside, I’m going to focus on wrapping a single bottle of wine as there are number of ways you can accomplish this in a tasteful and creative way.

If all you have is wrapping paper or tissue paper, that will work! You can also use a hand towel here and even cloth napkins.

You will likely also need Scotch tape. When using wrapping paper or tissue paper, double-sided sticky tape is a cleaner look. However, if you have just have regular Scotch tape, that will work, too!

And finally, a ribbon. The ribbon is almost a necessity for wrapping a bottle. Cloth ribbon or jute ribbon is going to work well. If you want more structure in your bow, use a wired ribbon. If all you have available is one-time-use ribbon, that’s okay, too.

Selecting a Paper

I find that wine bottles present better as gifts when using wrapping paper with a simpler design. Think polka-dots, stripes, snowflakes, stars, etc. Single color wrapping paper, usually in a gold or silver shade, also works well. This is why tissue paper is also a great alternative because tissue paper is often a single color. I also like using brown-toned wrapping paper. Again, the simplicity in the paper makes the bottle look more elegant.

Wrapping the Bottle

Wine Gift Bags

Most grocery stores, card stores (think Hallmark), and wine stores offer wine gift bags. (1) The bags are the appropriate shape and size for one 750-mL bottle (the standard size) of wine. This is certainly the simplest road you can take when wrapping a wine bottle. (2) Simply add the bottle to the bag.

I recommend adding a bunch of tissue paper at the top to give it a bit more pizzazz.

(3) Take one sheet of tissue paper and bunch the paper at center crease. It doesn’t have to be perfect. The center gets scrunched to fit in the bag while the ends remain straight and fluffy. (4) Insert the scrunched end into the top of the bag, covering the bottle, allowing for some tissue to flair outside of the bag.

The Simple Wrap

The simplest way to wrap a bottle is to actually wrap the bottle. You can use wrapping paper or tissue paper or a combination for this style. In my example I used tissue paper.

Most tissue paper will come in a rectangular shape. When we go to roll the bottle in the tissue paper, you’ll notice this longer edge creates a rather tall top flair for some bottles. In my example, I left this flair long. But you can get around the long top by trimming the paper before rolling the bottle into the paper. You only need about 2 – 3 inches above the top of the bottle to make this look nice.

(1) Start by laying out the tissue or wrapping paper flat on a hard surface, like a table. Place the bottle diagonally near the bottom left corner of paper. (2) Secure the corner of the paper to the bottle with Scotch tape.

(3) Slowly roll the bottle, wrapping in the tissue paper. As you roll the bottle, (4) tuck the bottom edge of the paper to create a perpendicular line in sync with the bottom of the bottle. (5) This will keep the bottom edge of paper straight with the bottom of the paper. If you tuck too much, you’ll simply end up with a diagonal line to tape when you are finished rolling the bottle.

After sealing the paper with Scotch tape, scrunch the paper around the bottom neck of the bottle. (6) Add a ribbon to tighten the paper around the neck of the wine bottle. While tying a simple bow, you can add an accessory. Dangle the accessory from the ribbon to create a personal touch.

For additional ways to wrap a wine bottle, including a “Side Fan” or wrapping with a tea towel/cloth napkin, visit the Sip & Swirl Cellar, here. 

For full videos on how to wrap these bottles, follow me on Instagram (@dgwinemaking). We would love to see you there!