How to Choose a Wine to Give as a Gift (and How to Send It)

How to Choose a Wine to Give as a Gift (and How to Send It)

Wine can be a wonderful gift to give and to receive but it’s not always easy to choose the right one for the recipient. If you know the person well and they have spoken about different wines that they like, then it’s easier. If you don’t know the wine preferences of the person or don’t know much about wine yourself, maybe it’s time to learn more and take up some wine courses. However, if you don’t have time to do it, don’t worry because you’ve come to the right place. In this post, I’ll share some tips for how to choose a wine to give as a gift to help you along the way.

Which brands should I consider?

Choosing a valuable brand name makes a safe gift that even someone who is not a wine expert is likely to recognize and appreciate. A high-end wine is very likely to be a successful gift and is easy to find to. This list of Twelve Premium Italian Wines to Gift this Christmas will provide plenty of inspiration and help you choose a wine gift.

How much should I spend on a bottle of wine for a gift?

You, of course, set your own budget. There are plenty of brilliant wines under £25 that you could consider – there’s a great list of wines here with lots of budget-friendly reds and whites that are exclusive to Independent Wine here in the U.K., making them a very unique gift. A couple of options of wines under £25 are:

• Cannonau di Sardegna – a rich and powerful red with deep tastes of black fruit, cinnamon and chocolate
• Gewurztraminer – which is an aromatic white from the Dolomite Alps with tastes of guava, lychee and passion fruit.

If you’d like to spend a bit more on something special, you can buy a decent award-winning wine that will make an impressive Christmas wine gift for between £30 and £60. Check out Barolo, Amarone and Brunello di Montalcino wines or go for a Barbaresco which is great value.

How many bottles should I send?

If you want to send more than one bottle of wine, then a crate of mixed wine makes a great gift. You can mix and match wines of different prices and wine regions for an impressive and fun gift for a loved one to experience.

How do I send wine?

You can send single wine bottles with Royal Mail but if you want to send more, then you need to use a courier like ParcelForce, FedEx or UPS for example.

The easiest way to send wine as a gift though would be to order the wine from an online wine shop like Independent Wine as they can deliver the wine straight to the recipient’s address. They also gift wrap the bottles for free if requested. You as the sender, get the tracking details and will be able to see when your gift has been safely delivered.

This way, you don’t need to pay for postage several times (if buying online), you don’t need to worry about how to safely package the wine to protect it in transit and your wine gift will be beautifully gift wrapped. So easy!

If you do want to package and sent the wine yourself, you need to invest in good-quality packaging. A good idea if you buy and send wine frequently, is to keep any packaging you get from your own orders so that you can reuse these.

Below are some packaging items that are great for protecting wine:

• Triple-wall cardboard box made of three-layer-think corrugated cardboard

• Inflatable “airsacs” which are plastic envelopes which you inflate with compressed air to protect a bottle. You need one for each bottle and a pump to inflate them.

• You can also use geami paper or corrugated cushion paper for a more eco-friendly option.

If there’s any space around the bottle in the box, fill with shredded paper or add more layers of wrapping to ensure the bottle doesn’t rattle around inside the box. If sending more than one bottle, always wrap each bottle individually to protect the wines.

Independent Wine have stopped using bubble-wrap and airsacs this year to cut down on plastic waste and are now only using paper. They use specialist boxes designed for wine that are all made from strong, triple-wall cardboard.

Independent Wine deliver the next day directly to the door all over the UK which is so convenient, especially this year as it helps many customers to stay safe during the pandemic.

Collaborative Post. Contains a sponsored link.