Wine is an excellent gift for birthday parties, housewarmings, and anniversaries. Wine is an ancient drink that comes in wide varieties, all with unique flavour profiles. Because wine is such a complex drink, many accessories are designed to enhance the experience of drinking a glass of wine. Simply by using a decanter to separate sediment or an aerator from oxidizing wine, you can drastically alter the taste.
Other wine accessories are designed to maintain the quality of the wine and help you preserve wine after it has been uncorked. Including a variety of these accessories in gift baskets is a great way to help the recipient become a wine lover. The best wine basket ideas for a memorable gift make the giftee feel like they’re a wine expert. A quality wine gift basket is full of items that make serving and enjoying wine easy.
Here are the six best wine basket ideas for a memorable gift:
Wine Basket Idea #1: Snacks
Wine is best enjoyed with food, making the snacks in your wine basket a key component. If you’re basing your basket on a single theme of wine, it’s a good idea to get food that matches the theme.
Snacks such as crackers, pasta, nuts, and olives are versatile and pair well with various wines. Dark chocolate is an example of a food that pairs extremely well with intense, full-bodied wines. Cheese is another great snack option with different varieties you can pair with red and white wine.
Non-perishable cheeses such as Pecorino Romano, Parmigiano Reggiano, and Grana Padano are ideal gift baskets since the recipient won’t have to worry about keeping the ingredients fresh. If you’re basing the basket on red wine, specialty pasta sauces, aged sausages, and horseradish dip are great snack items to include.
Wine Basket Idea #2: Red & White Wines
Focusing on a single theme of wine is a great way to start building your wine gift basket. Baskets focused on red wine, white white, or natural wine make it easier to find snacks and accessories that pair with the specific type of wine.
If you’re introducing the basket recipient to wine, look for wines low in tannin which are less dry and more accessible to a beginner palette. You can also pick wines that match the current season. Chardonnay, Riesling, and shiraz have great flavours for the winter, while rosé, Moscato, and sauvignon blanc are best enjoyed during the summer.
If you can access natural wines in your area, they make a great gift for people that enjoy organic food and want to try wine with no preservatives.
Wine Basket Idea #3: Wine Accessories
Giving a wine basket as a gift offers an excellent opportunity to make wine more accessible. Many people are intimidated by wine, which causes them to avoid trying new wines. Corkscrews, wine stoppers, and ice buckets are examples of a few accessories that will help introduce your friends and family to wine.
Stainless steel wine chiller sticks are also a convenient accessory for quickly chilling and aerating wine. With the right accessories, you can help the gift basket recipient feel like a wine expert.
Wine Basket Idea #4: Monogrammed Glassware
Monogrammed glassware is one of the best wine basket ideas for a memorable gift. In addition to glasses, you can also include a monogrammed decanter for the recipient. The elegant and unique design will make these glasses a staple at all future gatherings.
You can also include personalized wine stoppers and a monogrammed ice bucket to make the gift basket contents feel fully personalized. Serving trays, wine carafes, and bottle coasters are examples of other accessories you can get inscribed with the initial of the gift basket recipient.
Wine Basket Idea #5: Portable Wine Bag
Portable wine bags are another great tool that makes wine more accessible to the gift basket recipient. Wine bags are generally designed for picnics and come with a small table with one or two glasses.
High-quality wine bags are insulated, which makes it easy to keep your favourite bottles cool for hours at a time. You can also include a wine tote from a store like Bed Bath and Beyond which comes with a faux leather shell and an insulated compartment for the wine.
Wine Basket Idea #6: Special Basket
The basket you pick immediately sets the tone for your gift. Picnic and wicker baskets are the most common options when building a wine gift basket. These options are great for outdoor settings and as a housewarming gift.
Another creative option is to use a large colander to present all the gift basket items. If you want to provide an elegant feel, you can use a customized wood box as the base of your wine gift basket.
