It’s that time of year again and, while we refuse to have decorations or Christmas music in the shop until December 1st, we do think it’s time to plan ahead and so we thought it would be a good idea to present some Christmas gift ideas. First, though, some hints about giving wine as a gift.
First off, less can be more. For example, instead of giving somebody a few bottles of wine that they might get themselves anyway, give them one or two special bottles for the same amount of money. A couple of years ago, one of our customers was given a case of supermarket wines as a corporate gift. He threw them all down the sink. His comment: “I wish they’d spent the same amount of money on one or two special bottles”.
Another trap to avoid is giving very recognisable wines. Mass-produced wines tend to be dosed with chemicals that ensure their stability. These are the type of wines that have you saying “I didn’t think I drank that much last night”. Not that we’re suggesting over-indulgence, but well-made wines shouldn’t cause hangovers if taken in moderation. The problem here tends to be over-reliance on herbicides, pesticides and fertilisers by the producers. These are poisons, and you are guaranteed a hangover after a few glasses.
So, what wine gifts work well? The best approach is to work from a budget and then consider your ‘audience’. A simple twinpack in the ?25 to ?30 range can tick a lot of boxes. We have a few examples below – , The French One, The Organic One (which is also The Spanish One) and the Italian One:
The Six-Pack:
We have similar suggestions – you can go French, Spanish, etc. However, working from a budget is a good idea. If you are going for a six-pack, ?90 – ?100 should be the starting point. Below that you just end up with wines that your customer would buy anyway, and a triple- or twin- pack would work better.
If you decide to go this route, think of three options: the Red Hamper (?90-?100), The Black (?150) and The Wooden (?250+), as pictured below. They can be tweaked to budget – these are just examples of what can be done.
