When giving wine as a gift, how much should you spend?
I know you should definitely spend more than you would on a bottle for personal consumption - or I should, anyway. I usually spend less than on a bottle if it just for me.
How much should you spend if it is for a gift?
Monetary guidelines are very important for this, as there are a multitude of varieties of wine, and you need to have a starting point somewhere.
Is there etiquette protocol on this? I will probably have to bring a bottle of wine to several gatherings this year, and I’d like to know.
Thanks.
Tagged with: bottle of wine • gatherings • multitude • personal consumption • protocol
Filed under: All Things Wine
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I don’t think there is any etiquette on this at all. If you are bringing a bottle of wine to be consumed at a gathering of several people, just pick something you think people will like. I would go with a middle-of-the-road price - certainly for me that would never be over $20 and most likely not over $15. If possible bring along some information about the wine or the vineyard. There are so many new wines available now, and often you can get information about it.
If you are buying a gift for an individual it deserves a little more thought than a community bottle for consumption. Think about the food the person likes, and what wine would complement that food. Think about the person’s tastes, and use those ideas as a guideline more than price. For me it would still be under $20, but price would not be the most significant factor in my choice.
If that under $10 bottle is really good, get that. If you can spend $50 then get something in that range. Read the wine reviews, you can find something in your price range.
do you know their favorite brand
do you know if they even drink wine
i have always bought what i know they drink
Unfortunately there’s no hard line on dollar amounts as far as etiquette goes. I would recommend going to a wine shop and asking them which wines are most universally liked and go with a variety of things if you’re not sure about what taste the recipients have in wine. Really, as long as it’s a great wine, I don’t think the price will be a big deal (how would they know exactly what you spent, anyway). Just make sure it’s not something that was obviously cheap.
As a hospitality gift, a bottle of wine should be as good and maybe a little better than you might pick for yourself, but the quality of the wine matters more than the price tag.
If you know what kind of wine they like, white or red, go to a wine store and ask for advice.
I’d give Caymus Conundrum for white
And a reasonably priced Red Zin for red.
Red Zin comes in so many cool bottles! Seven deadly Zin’s is one
Anything from Veeder Mountain California is going to be dynamite!
If you know the people prefer beer, you can get a bottle of Chimay Blue! They come in big corked bottles and it’s a really really good Belgian beer!
Have Fun!
You definately need to go to an alcohol or wine store for some help. Just tell them your range. It also is very important to know what type of wines the recipeint enjoys. Res? Whites? Sweet? Dry?