Good present for wine enthusiast?
My sister loves smelling wine, and tasting wine, and guessing what’s in it. She really good at it too. I want to get her something for her birthday in october that would go with this theme. The problem is she is only 16. So I can’t get her a wine of the month membership or anything like that. I was thinking maybe a tour of a vineyard? I’d love some other ideas, or suggestions of good vineyards in new york. thanks!
Tagged with: love • tasting wine • wine of the month
Filed under: All Things Wine
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There is a terra cotta ceramic "sleeve" that a wine bottle slides into. It looks like a very large drinking glass. You soak the sleeve in water for a half hour or so, then drain it. Set a bottle of wine into it, and in about a half hour, the wine has reached the perfect drinking temperature. (water evaporates from the sleeve. terra cotta regulates how fast water evaporates. the bottle of wine ends up about 10 to 15 degrees below room temp. perfect!) I saw it at Macy’s years ago. I’d start with them.
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Here’s what you’re looking for.
http://www.wineenthusiast.com/personalized-terra-cotta-wine-chiller.asp?AfID=TRFL
Now find a cheaper one.
Vineyards wont allow underage drinking so it might depress her. How about an artisan wine rack or a nice set of hand painted wine glasses.
http://www.azogallery.com Azo’s has some nice stuff. The owner is Galen, tell him Russ sent you
Get her a bottle of Silver Oak cabernet sauvignon and tell her to put it away until she’s old enough to drink it.
Spell Check, butt the hell out — sauvignon is spelled correctly. Don’t favor me with your gratuitous spelling corrections in the future — not one of them has been right yet.
A tour of a winery would leave her dry, she won’t be able to drink anything. Though it is lovely to see the grapes in all of their glory : ) and see the process first hand.
I bought my brother in law this new aerator gadget that I got from a wine shop that you use with a decanter. It opens up young wines and older wines really nicely. It is a funnel basically, with a air carb in it, you can hear and see the wine gurgling through it with oxygen passing through every drop.
I discovered it at a restaurant and we use it all the time. I can’t remember how much it cost, but it wasn’t cheap or expensive and it will last a lifetime.
We have opened two bottles of the same wine quite a few times and used the gadget on one of the bottles and not the other. Definately a difference, and it could teach your sister how to identify whether a wine is tight and closed, or past it’s prime.
If your sister loves smelling and tasting wine, then a great gift would be something that enhances that experience. I have a device that I purchased for under $50 that, in effect, "ages" the wine so that it tastes much more complex, smooth, and mature. Basically, you uncork the bottle of wine, and you place the bottle on the base of the Perfect Sommelier, and then insert the topper piece of the Perfect Sommelier into the opening of the bottle. After about 30-45 minutes, the wine is noticeably more mature. I often test this by pouring a shot glass of the wine before using the Perfect Sommelier. Then after the 30-45 minutes is up, I taste the mature wine, then taste the shot glass (untreated) wine. The difference is striking most often.
Anyway, the Perfect Sommelier can be found on a number of sites, such as Amazon.com, HomeBrewers.com, Shopping.com or lots of other places.
In all honesty, I’ve had the Perfect Sommelier make a $30 bottle of wine taste like a $50-70 of wine. I love mine and would not give it up for the world.
Your sister’s taste buds will definitely thank you!
Good luck and I hope you get her something that will thrill her!
John
WineGoober.com - go from WineGoober to WineGeek fast!
http://www.winegoober.com
A wine aroma kit would be fun, though they can get expensive - they’re little bottles of scents that duplicate actual aromas you would find in wine. They are great for practicing. Here are a few http://www.wineenthusiast.com/E/results.asp?Ntt=901&N=0&Ntk=Product&Nty=1&AfID=GGL
How the heck did your sister get so into wine at the age of 15 (or earlier)??