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WINE LOVER GIFTSby Jerry D. MeadIf that last person on your shopping list likes wine, you're in luck. Wine lovers are just about the easiest people of all to shop for. You can always give them bottles of their favorite wine, or even a case of it if it isn't too expensive. Or you can select a very special bottle of a style of wine you know they like, that is so expensive you know they'd never splurge on it themselves. But the really great thing about wine lovers is that you can get them lots of other stuff too, like books on wine, fancy cork extractors, "wine-of-the-month" type clubs that send different wines every 30 days, or even fancy foodstuffs that work with wine. And no wine lover ever had enough stemware. For one thing the stuff breaks from time to time, plus there's always the need for enough glassware to serve company, plus wine geeks like to comparison taste several wines of the same type side-by-side, which increases the need for stemware in quantity. And now we have crystal companies creating different size and shape glasses for every different wine variety. Me? I've been know to drink good wine out of a jelly glass, but for those who want the right stuff the Riedel company in Austria makes some of the best. You can find it at many department and wine specialty stores and one of the biggest price discounters of the brand is the store called Wine Club, which has several California locations. They ship overnight and have a free brochure with all Riedel glassware available (800) 966-5432. Of the we-ship-wine-every-30-days operations, there are too many to mention, but some of the more reliable include: Gold Medal Wine Club (800) 266-8888 features mostly California wines and mostly medal winners from major shows. It will also tailor each order to your recipient's taste, for example all red, or all white, whatever. Cape Wine Club (800) 504-9463 specializes in South African wines and I'm here to tell you there is some very good stuff available at very reasonable prices. California Wine Club (800) 777-4443 Even though it is not the original wine monthly club, it is one of the most visible and most copied as to style. In addition to its regular offerings, there is a special "Connoisseurs' Selection" with an upscale price tag. Ausvin USA (800) 851-4404 specializes in small Australian wineries so small they usually aren't found in normal retail channels here, and offers both monthly shipments or special one-time assortments. Some really good stuff at really good prices. Other mail order or Internet wine merchants with special gift offers include: Windsor Vineyards (800) 333-9987 is one of the medal-winningest wineries every year, but unless you're on their mailing list you never hear about the wines. They are not available at regular retail stores. A specialist in hard to find small wineries from California, Washington and Oregon is 301 Wine Shop at www.301wines.com/wines or (800) 404-1390. There's even a specialist in French organic wines! The Organic Wine Co. at (888) ECO-WINE. That 888 is the new toll free prefix since they ran out of 800 numbers. And if you have a thing for wines from the Santa Cruz Mountains (lots of really good small producers up there) try the Aull-N-Aull Web Winery at (800) 211-6630. A wine club with no automatic shipments, but which offers discounts as high as 35 percent off from dozens of top small California producers, is The Millennium Club at (888) 946-3200. Of the new crop of wine books one of the very best is Vineyard Tales, Reflections on wine ($22.95) by Gerald Asher, arguably the most pleasurable to read wine writer in the world. Asher is one of the nicest, gentlest men you'll ever meet, and it comes through in his writing. That he very much loves his subject and everything to do with it is also very obvious. This book is a collection of sometimes altered, sometimes expanded, sometimes edited-down essays on every kind of wine topic from the series he writes regularly for Gourmet magazine. Brian St. Pierre's A Perfect Glass of Wine ($24.95) is a kind of upscale beginner's book. The former head of communications for California's Wine Institute, St. Pierre is an old pro and one who knows how to make the complicated seem simple, instead of the other way around. All the basics are covered, but the best section is that one devoted to describing the different grape varieties, the wines they make, what they actually taste like and what foods they work best with. Great book for beginners, but it will not bore the long time wine fan, either.
BEST BUY RED WINE OF THE WEEK
BEST BUY SPARKLING WINE OF THE WEEKAny wines, books or whatever ever you might have trouble locating, call my office at (800) 845-9463 and we'll try to help you find a retailer, winery, importer, publisher, or mail order source. We really will.
Wines are scored using a unique 100 point system. First number rates quality; second number rates value. For a reprint explaining the scoring system in depth and a pocket scoring guide, send $1 to: Mead's 100 Points, P.O. Box 1598, Carson City, NV 89702-1598.
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