Some Christmas gift ideas for a wine-loving friend

If you’re reading this and feeling the creeping dread of knowing that you’ve barely started your holiday shopping, know that you and I are in the same boat. If you’re in a pinch, here are some easyto-find gifts for a burgeoning wine-drinker in your life.

A DECANTER

Decanters make perfect gifts when you know someone likes wine, but you don’t have the faintest idea what they actually drink. With their myriad shapes, styles and sizes, it’s easy to find one that fits your loved ones’ aesthetic, and you’ll look extra thoughtful giving them such a seeming highbrow gift.

BOOKS

An entire shelf ’s-worth of books have come out in recent years chronicling the wide world of wine, but there are two that I think are especially gift-worthy this year. Zachary Sussman’s “Sparkling Wine for Modern Times” offers a look at the way sparkling wines (not just Champagne) have conquered the globe and is sure to introduce you to a few new wine regions. “Big Macs & Burgundy: Wine Pairings for the Real World,” by Vanessa Price with Adam Laukhuf, has all the answers to life’s biggest questions like, “What wine goes best with General Tso’s chicken?”

PRIVATE PRESERVE

If you find yourself rarely finishing a bottle of wine in a single evening, a can of Private Preserve can be a lifesaver … well, a bottle-saver, at least. Filled with a neutral, heavier- than- oxygen gas (composed predominantly of argon), a puff of this into your bottle before closure will keep the oxygen from changing the wine’s flavor in your fridge. This stuff has become a regular fixture in my kitchen and can extend a bottle’s life by days at a time.

WINE

If ever there was a time to listen to your trusted wine shop staff, holiday gifting is it. They know their shop’s inventory and are the best to guide you to those special wines that punch above their price point. There’s no better time than now to cultivate a personal relationship with a wine expert that can guide you for years to come.

GIFT CARDS

I fall firmly into the “gift cards aren’t fun” camp of gift- givers, but there are times when they do come in handy. Almost every wine shop in the state now offers them, and they’re ideal for those people ( myself included) who really do just prefer to do their own wine buying.

TIME

Not to sound too Tiny Tim about the holidays, but perhaps the greatest wine-related present I’ve ever gotten was when a wine-novice friend of mine asked if they could buy me a bottle. Their only caveat was that they wanted to drink it with me so that they could understand what I liked about it. Sharing that bottle has become one of my favorite wine memories. As a gift, it may have fallen into the “gifts that are more for the giver” category, but the time spent enjoying the bottle was more than worth it.