Want to gift some wine? These are things you need to keep in mind when it comes to the etiquette of giving wine as a gift.
We’ve talked quite a bit about how excellent wine is as a gift for your dad, mom, best friend, co-worker, or distant family member—the list goes on. However, wine gifting is not as simple as buying your favorite bottle. You must consider the sentiment, seasonality, quantity, and presentation. Learn more about the etiquette of giving wine as a gift below!
Put the Person First
It may seem obvious, but when you’re gifting wine, it’s like gifting anything else. You’re not giving what you love but what you think the other person will love. Think about past experiences sipping on wine with that person—did they go for whites or reds? Did they love sweetness, or did they prefer heavily tannic glasses? These are the questions to ask before you buy!
Key Tip: Even if the recipient only likes one type of wine (Pinot Noir, for example), there are still plenty of options to choose from to make your gift unique.
Don’t Forget About Seasonality
A wine gifted during the winter is different than a wine gifted in summer. Though this isn’t a hard and fast etiquette rule, it will help you better sort out what to give. For example, summer is great for fruity and acidic wines such as Rosé or Sauvignon Blanc, while winter is better suited to fuller-bodied reds.
Again, your giftee may prefer a Rosé year-round, and if that’s the case, you should still pick your Rosé with the season in mind. Some are fuller than others, some are more fruit-forward, and others are drier. Buying a bottle that coincides with the current season is quite impactful!
Think About the Occasion
One of our favorite tips on the etiquette of giving wine as a gift is to think about the occasion. Are you giving wine for a birthday or a housewarming? For Christmas, or to treat your friend after a hard week? These reasons transform how you give your gift, not just the wine you choose.
If it’s for a housewarming party, and you know there will be quite a few people present, you’ll need to gift more wine on the off chance that the recipient wants to use your wine for the night. If it’s just to celebrate your friend making it through a tough week, you may just need one bottle but might throw in a movie and some treats, too. The occasion you’re giving the wine for completely transforms how you give the gift.
Gift It Beautifully
This last tip is about how you wrap it. If the occasion is super casual, you might choose to simply hand over the bottle, but even that can seem a little anticlimactic. Wrap the gift in a wine bag so that the recipient has something to open. Tie a ribbon on it and give a card with it. Or, if you’re thinking of something fancier, gift it in a box with an aesthetically pleasing filling, some snacks, a card, wine information, and whatever else matches the person’s tastes!
Basically, just put some thought into the wrapping.
If you can’t see your giftee in person, don’t hesitate to send a wine-by-mail gift! With Wines ‘Til Sold Out, you can gift them wine right at their fingertips—try it out now!