12 best wine gifts for Christmas 2018
There's a whole range of interesting and engaging gifts available for wine lovers.
Some are traditional – a corkscrew is always welcome.
Others can be a little more quirky, such as the plastic, googly-eyed aliens that cling to your glass and help you to identify it in a crowded room.
Yet other gifts, such as chocolate truffles, a cheese board and even some real wine gums, can complement what you have in the glass.
We’ve picked something for all budgets – you can spend under a tenner or splash out on a decanter that's also an work of art.
T&G Jar And Bottle Crate: £24.99 Lakeland
Buying the wine may be straightforward, where to keep it can be a problem.
If the wine is going to be drunk quite soon, then this sturdy and solid wooden container could be the answer.
Made by the family-run T&G Woodware company from Portishead, Bristol, it uses responsibly sourced acacia wood and would complement any kitchen.
It holds four bottles or jars and has two carry handles.
Joseph Joseph BarWise Easy-action Winding Corkscrew: £8.99, Amazon
For those who find using an ordinary corkscrew can be like a trial of strength, here’s an easier alternative.
Remove the foil with the cutters on the end of the corkscrew, then place it on the cork, squeeze the sides and simply wind it clockwise until the cork pops out.
Then squeeze it again and wind it anti-clockwise to remove the cork.
Sounds simple, but it works.
Mamba Fatto A Mano Decanter: £395, Riedel
Want to splash out a little this Christmas?
Although hopefully you won’t spill too much wine with a decanter that’s as much a work of art as it is a useful if ravishing looking object.
Each German-made decanter is a unique piece and features optical mouth-blown glass and a black-white-black ornamental line.
Riedel recommends this particularly snakelike example as the perfect container for wild and young wines. I’m a fang already...
Gentlemen's Hardware Cheese & Wine Serving Set With Knife: £22.99, Iwoot
If you know someone who fancies a spot of Camembert with their cabernet sauvignon then this could be the perfect gift.
It features an acacia wood serving board with painted handle and leather hanging loop, a corkscrew and bottle opener in one and finally a wooden-handled painted stainless steel cheese knife.
It’s 175mm by 435mm and would be a useful adornment for any yuletide table.
Vinology Deluxe Electric Corkscrew: £25.99, Wayfair
Wine waiters make it look easy. But for many of us, heaving at the tight cork of a bottle wine can leave us huffing, puffing and using slightly unseasonal language when the corkscrew comes out and the cork disintegrates.
This smoothly solves all those problems by lifting out the cork at the press of a button. Press the second button and it will dispose of the cork.
Comes with a foil cutter and ready charged to tackle up to 50 bottles.
Pretty Useful Cheese & Wine Multi-Tool: £26, Amara
Remember those Swiss Army-style penknives that included everything you could want including something to get stones out of horse’s hooves?
Well this is very similar, as it has a corkscrew, bottle opener, can opener and blades for all types of cheeses and, happily, nothing at all on the equine side.
Made of stainless steel and small enough to carry around in your pocket.
Joie Wine Watchers Wine Charms: £4.99 Lakeland
These are cute. Colour-coded little plastic googly-eyed aliens that you can push on to the stem of your glass so that you know which drink is yours.
They’d be great for a Christmas tree, but be careful to keep them away from children or pets.
The Flavours of Merlot Real Wine Gums: £8.99 Firebox
Just the thing for for those who crave a taste of wine in solid rather than liquid form.
Made in the Netherlands by wine fans Marleen Teters and Mireille Reuling they’re alcohol-free but hope to capture the taste of a glass of the good stuff.
We have to admit that they do have a grapey, tannin-like taste that puts them in a class above your average sweet shop wine gum.
Also available in chardonnay, rosé or riesling flavours.
Zzysh Wine Preserver: £79.90 Zzysh
A stylish Swiss-made wine preserver that prevents an opened bottle of wine oxidizing by replacing the air in the bottle with 100 per cent food-grade argon gas.
Simply place the plastic stopper on the bottle, press down with the wand-like preserver, wait for the “zzysh” sound and you know that your wine is ready to keep for another few weeks.
It comes with a cartridge that can preserve up to eight bottles.
Extra cartridges are available at five for £19.90.
Musical Wine Glass: £12.99 Firebox
Now’s your chance to combine wine and music with a German-made wine glass that promises to play 12 different notes.
Simply fill to the level indicated, then wet your finger and run it around the rim or tap the glass gently with a fork. A full glass and you’ve got a D, only a little and you have a C.
Making sweet music was never easier – or more enjoyable.
Harvey Nichols Champagne & Dark Chocolate Truffles: £30, Ocado
If Christmas is a time for treats, then this has to be one of the ultimate ones.
The half-bottle of brut champagne – an exclusive blend consisting predominantly of pinot noir and pinot meunier – is made for Harvey Nicks by Lombard et Medot and has all the sparkling, zesty and toasty character you could wish.
The Marc de Champagne dark chocolate truffles have a crunchy dark chocolate shell and a sumptuous creamy ganache filling.
Root7 Geo glasses: £24 for two, Amazon
You’re unlikely to have seen crystal glasses like this before.
Taking their inspiration from the gardening world’s indoor geometric terrariums, these multi-faceted glasses feature metallic styled edges, hand-blown glass and a smoothed lip for easier drinking.
Stylish and different they are available in black or gold.
The Verdict: Best gifts for wine lovers
Buying a gift for a wine lover can follow a simple path.
First, they need something to open their best bottle with – such as the traditional corkscrew included in the Pretty Useful Cheese & Wine multi-tool or the more innovative Joseph Joseph BarWise winding corkscrew and the Vinology Deluxe electric corkscrew.
Then they need something to pour it into, such as the on-trend Root7 Geo glasses or, for a bit of fun, the Musical Wine Glass.
And once the bottle's open you can keep it fresh with the Zzysh wine preserver and store it in our best buy, the stylish T&G jar and bottle crate.
