RAISE A GLASS
Here we are again! How did the year go so quickly! I’m back offering an annual jaunt around Christmas gift ideas for your loved ones.
You could gift a visit to one of the UK’S top sparkling wine producers – a tour and tasting at Ridgeview’s
home vineyard (right) in the South Downs National Park, will help you understand a year in the life of a vine, and will give an insight into how they transform grapes into sparkling wine. There’s also a tutored tasting. It is £50 for two, via their website ridgeview.co.uk.
Or maybe give a daily whisky treat with an advent calendar. The Whisky Advent Calendar – Explorers’ Edition
from Drinks by the Dram is available online at Masterofmalt.com (left, £99.95) and contains 24 different whiskies, of 30ml, each hidden behind the calendar’s cardboard doors. There are a few variations to the advent theme on its website.
Or maybe cocktails are the thing to make someone happy on Christmas Day.
The Wine Society is offering a Festive Cocktail
Trio (right, £39) from London’s Tayer
+ Elementary, which has been voted one of the world’s best bars. It contains Tayer Gingerbread Old Fashioned, Tayer Xmas Pudding Sour and Tayer Mince Pie Negroni.
Perhaps a no-alcohol treat is the way you want to go. There’s an eight bottle Alcohol-free Cider and Westcombe Cheddar Cheese Gift Pack (£21.49) over at wisebartender. co.uk. It includes four styles of cider and 250g of Westcombe Cheddar.
Finally, Artisan Drinks is offering a rather dashing Classic Gin and Tonic gift set (RRP £16, online at Artisan Drinks.
Also, I could be a solution to your wine gift dilemma!
Has your loved one always wanted to understand wine a little better, to discover food and wine pairing tips, and know how to choose a wine from a restaurant wine list?
I’m here to help.
I offer online wine courses on behalf of the Wine and Spirits Education Trust (WSET). Gift vouchers are available via my website One Foot in the Grapes.
■ Jane is a member of the Circle of Wine Writers. Find her on social media and online as One Foot in the Grapes.