The Perfect Gift For A Wine Lover Is Wine

What will you do? It is gift giving time for your favorite wine lover and you haven’t a clue. Let’s forget about super efficient corkscrews, wine preservation systems, wine storage units, wine books, and wine magazines. Forgive me for stating the obvious, but the perfect gift for a wine lover is wine.

Now, I will narrow it down for you. Selecting an expensive bottle of wine that has received a high rating is almost too easy. (By the way, has anyone noticed that with the growth of the Internet, 90 point ratings are getting easier and easier to find?) Because you like a challenge (and your portfolio has gone down by 50 percent… ), let’s set a $20 per bottle limit for your gift. Multiple bottles of wine for under $20 are allowed, however.

Our starting point will be New Zealand. Crisp flavors of grapefruit and gooseberry have given New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc a well-deserved reputation for excellence around the world. Many top brands can be found under our self-imposed spending limit.

Let’s not forget neighboring Australia. Although many prestigious Australian wines fetch top dollar, the savvy shopper can still find some great Shiraz that is still affordable.

Moving to Europe presents another challenge. The prices for Europe’s most prestigious wines continue to climb and a weak dollar certainly doesn’t help. However, the wines from the southern Rhone in France can still meet the good quality to low cost criteria.

The southern Rhone is best known for Chateauneuf-du-Pape but wines from Vacqueyras, Gigondas, and the always reliable Cotes du Rhone can still be nice buys. They are primarily made from Grenache and a string of good vintages makes these wines worth seeking out.

Finally, we will end our trip in Argentina. Red wines from the Malbec grape have helped establish Argentina as a legitimate, quality wine producing country. The best wines are rich, dry, flavorful, and at least for now, not extremely pricey.

I have only skimmed the surface of the ocean of quality wines that are available, and still affordable. If these suggestions still don’t please your choosy wine lover, there is always that classy wine necktie you’ve had your eye on.

(Newtown resident and oenophile Steve Small is the general manager at Yankee Wine & Spirits on Queen Street.)