Christmas gift ideas for French wine lovers

What to buy a wine connoisseur for Christmas? It’s a tricky question that causes much consternation. The same applies to buying presents for anyone with a hobby that you don’t share. The fear of buying them something that they may not like, already have or won’t appreciate.

Here are some suggestions that should please most wine lovers. 

First of all, go to a specialist outlet. It’s unlikely that you will find anything in a supermarket or chain store that will be appreciated. Specialist wine shops will have lots of ideas for gifts, not just bottles of expensive wine.

Decanters make excellent gifts. Wine lovers can never have too many decanters. Different shapes and styles for different wines. Ones you can put in the fridge are especially good because white wine also benefits from being decanted. Avoid anything too fancy or too quirky. 

If your budget doesn’t stretch to a decanter, a decanter cleaner is always useful. 

On the subject of decanting, those gadgets which claim to improve wine by rapid aeration, passing it through a magnetic field, or some other pseudo-scientific idea, won't do anything to improve the wine and just make it more of a faff to serve. Your wine-loving friend will likely already have several of these gadgets gathering dust somewhere or won’t appreciate it. 

Decorative wine accessories are probably not going to be appreciated as much as you imagine. Attractive stoppers, pourers, coasters and baskets are probably things you should buy for yourself, not your wine-loving friend. 

Another useful item for serving wine is a cooling sleeve or, for a higher budget, a rapid wine chiller. Even an attractive bag that you can put the bottle in with ice cubes is a nice, simple gift. 

The kind of metal ice bucket used in restaurants isn’t as useful because few people have enough ice in their fridge, unless they have an American-style ice machine. 

I think buying wine glasses for other people is hazardous. The chances are that they already have a nice set of wine glasses. They probably won’t want two or even four extra different glasses. Also, wine lovers tend to like large, plain, nicely shaped glasses rather than decorative, cut-glass ones. 

Corkscrews are also tricky. The kind of corkscrew that normal people think are lovely are not the ones that most wine lovers prefer. Wine lovers like the classic Waiters-Friend, lever-style corkscrew, not complex or highly decorative ones. 

Serving wines at the right temperature is important. Therefore, a thermometer that can read the temperature of the wine inside the bottle is a nice gift. As is a handy guide to the best serving temperature for all the different styles of wine. 

Wine books have largely been replaced by online information but there are some great books out there that make superb gifts. I wrote an article in August about wine literature.

 While some books are perennial, others need to be current, such as ones about the quality and drinking ranges of vintages or ones which highlight the best producers in a region. Maybe ask beforehand to make sure your friend doesn’t already have a copy though. 

Or what about a subscription to a wine magazine or website, such as Jancis Robinson’s Purple Pages? Subscriptions make excellent presents for friends living in other countries or who have little space for more stuff. 

Subscriptions to a wine club, which sends the member a certain number of bottles per month, are probably beyond the budget of a gift and those to the ones in the UK – which are forever offering vouchers with your credit card, frequent-flyer membership or in newspapers – probably won’t be appreciated by a real wine lover. 

However, there are more niche wine clubs with subscription plans that offer just a couple of bottles a month. I’ve not tried it myself but a friend of mine is very pleased with Le Petit Ballon in France. 

If you live near your friend, what about offering them a wine experience, such as food and wine matching or a winemaking workshop, that you can go to together?

When it comes to buying a bottle of wine as a gift for a wine lover, that probably requires a whole article. I celebrated my 60th birthday this year and asked guests to bring a bottle of interesting wine, if they wanted. 

Quite a few went to one of our local wine merchants (who know me) and asked for their suggestion. Some gave me bottles from producers they like. Others bought me foreign wines (which we know are hard to find in France) and some took the safe option of a decent Champagne. 

Champagne remains the safe gift option for several reasons. Firstly, because everyone knows that it isn’t cheap. Secondly because everyone can always find an occasion to open a bottle of Champagne and thirdly because good ones do age well for several years. 

I hope this article has given readers some helpful ideas for Christmas gifts for their wine loving friends, and that those friends appreciate the hand-wringing anxiety of buying gifts for them.

Jonathan Hesford studied oenology and viticulture in New Zealand, is a member of the Association of Wine Educators and the winemaker and owner of Domaine Treloar in the Roussillon.