It’s that time of year when you have to decide what the wine lover on your holiday gift list wants. If they’re like me, the answer is John Szabo’s new book on volcanic wines. I’ve worked with some of my favourite wine friends and bloggers to put together a few other ideas for gifts to get the wine lover in your life.
First, I’m going to give another huge plug for John Szabo’s latest book: Volcanic Wines: Salt, Grit and Power, which is the perfect gift for someone truly passionate about wine education. This is an informative read that will keep the wine geekiest among us happy for hours. I’ll be following up with a full review in the new year, but for now it’s topping my wish list and I know many of my wine-loving friends are hoping to find this under the tree on Christmas morning.
I’m also going to suggest Icewine. This one is a bit of a surprise, as I love Icewine but have never been big on having it in the house. We like it in moderation, so it’s the type of thing I’d only pull out when we had guests over and even then you hardly make a dent in the bottle. Enter my discovery of Icewine cocktails! Add a little to your favourite sparkling wine for a special treat or mix it into a martini for a hint of sweetness. Now that I understand the versatility of this Canadian favourite, I’m all about having it on hand. The 2015 Chateau des Charmes Vidal Icewine comes in a cute package (perfect for gifting) and is a great pairing for blue cheese or a fun addition to your holiday cocktails.
Charlene Theodore and Megan Munro, Chew Street Blog:
“Chew Street has teamed up with Swell Made Co. to curate two holiday gift packs for the holiday season. One of them is perfect for the wine lover on your ‘nice list’ this year. The Wine Love Gift Pack is a collection of chic, witty and fun items from stationary to totes specially packaged for the holidays. For each one purchased, Chew Street and Swell Made will buy a Christmas dinner for clients of the Yonge Street Mission, an organization that has served Torontonians in poverty with dignity since 1896. The Wine Love Gift Pack ($62.00CAD) is perfect for the oenophile, casual wine enthusiat, or wine newbie who likes eye-catching, minimal design.
The gift pack includes:
- WINE Pendant + Chain
- I Got Wine in My Bag Black Tote Bag
- This Calls For Champagne Keytag
- Thank You note for your recipient informing them of their contribution to the Yonge Street Mission.”
Angela Aiello, Wine Expert & Founder of iYellow Wine Club:
“Fresh Sparkling Riesling – one of my local Holiday go-to wines. My favourite grape just got better! Celebrate Ontario with this great bottle of bubbly! I may have bought a couple cases and sent a case to my sister, and a case to my mom too.”
Anne Louise Bannon, Oddball Grape:
“When I’m asked what do wine lovers really want for the holidays, I usually say more wine. Which might intimidate non-wine folks. But fear not. One of the best gifts Michael ever got was a gift certificate to a really great wine shop. It came from my daughter and the shop was in San Francisco, where she lives. We live about 600 miles away in Los Angeles. Michael had a blast picking out his wines – bottles he’d probably not have bought for himself. But better yet, what a sweet way for the kid to suggest we come up and visit. So a well-thought out gift certificate can be a great way to give the wine lover in your life more wine. Unless, of course, you’ve got the funds to hire a sommelier to stock your cellar. That would be even better.
“Assuming the wine lover in your life isn’t already making her or his own wine, one of the most fun gifts you can get them is a home wine-making kit. You can find them online or at a local home brew shop. There are few things more exciting than making it yourself. But be aware, even though that first wine may actually be pretty grim, wine-making can be very addictive. It won’t be long before your wine lover is finding ways to buy (gasp) real grapes and talking about harvest and brix and acetobacters. And talk about a rabbit hole. We can’t tell you how many times we’ve heard professional winemakers tell us that they got their start when a spouse bought them a kit for the holidays. It’s how we started.”
Have some ideas we haven’t covered? Share them in the comments or on social!
Rancourt Winery—Harvest Barn Wicked Thai Chicken Soup with Gewurztraminer Icewine—On its own, I found this 2013 Gewurztraminer just a touch too sweet at first sip – the candied fruit notes were definitely pleasant and the wine was well-balanced, but not quite to my tastes. Paired with this absolutely brilliant soup, though, it was pretty perfect. Shawn and I both agreed that this soup was just fabulous—lots of heat and Thai flavours and plenty of chicken and rice to fill your belly. And the contrasting flavours between the soup and the Icewine just worked so well. A reminder of how much an Icewine can be elevated by a great pairing.We were very glad we made this stop.
Peller Estates Winery—Cabernet Franc Icewine with a roasted Icewine marshmallow—I admit that I gravitated towards more savoury pairings this year, but the Icewine Festival feels incomplete without one of Chef Jason Parsons’ Icewine marshmallows. These sweet treats are perfection roasted over one of the fires in Peller’s outdoor area (although both Shawn and I smelled like campfire for the rest of the day). The pairing here is almost secondary to the experience, though. The 2013 Cabernet Franc Icewine is good quality, very approachable and well-made, but the pairing is too sweet-on-sweet for me.
Inniskillin Wines—Chicken and waffles, spread with Icewine butter with a Riesling Icewine—The chicken and waffles called my name and it’s hard to resist visiting one of the best-known Icewine producers in the world. At Inniskillin you can see the Icewine vineyards right outside the winery, which is a nice touch, and you will taste your Icewine in one of their exclusive Icewine glasses. And, yes, in my opinion the glasses do elevate the tasting experience. The 2014 Riesling was well-structured with lots of honeyed pear and apple notes. The chicken and waffles were quite tasty, although I would have liked some more heat to cut through the sweetness and play with the great acidity on the wine.
Ravine Vineyard—Homemade spicy chicken meatball in a molé sauce with Rossco’s cornbread and a Vidal Icewine—We had never been to Ravine before, but this won’t be our last visit. It’s such a fun and friendly property and this pairing was delicious. The meatball was juicy and well-cooked and the cornbread had a nice sweetness that off-set the spicy/sweet molé sauce. With their nuanced 2013 Vidal Icewine, this combo brought layers of flavour that came together nicely. Yummy.
Megalomanic—Three Icewine based martinis—This was a must-do stop on our list when I heard about the martinis. What a brilliant idea. Shawn and I rarely buy a bottle of Icewine because we just can’t get through the whole thing before it goes off. Megalomaniac solved that problem by showing us four different ways to serve Icewine with a twist. The visit started off with their new sparkling Riesling mixed with their 2014 Coldhearted Riesling Icewine, then I sipped through three more small samples of martinis mixed with their Icewines. From citrus, cherry to chocolate, the drinks ran the gamut and each showed creativity in layering flavours. I will definitely be making one or more of these again soon.
Redstone Winery—Braised venison and dark chocolate chili with 2010 Cabernet Franc Icewine—We had hoped to make it to Mike Weir Winery, but just ran out of time. Stopping at Redstone to check out this beautiful new winery instead was certainly not a hardship, though. The 2010 Cabernet Franc Icewine is delicious and well-made, with a mix of strawberries and spice on the palate. Since I don’t eat venison, Shawn was more than happy to enjoy my portion too and steal a sip of Icewine to let me know that the spice on the chili was perfect with the wine . He didn’t find that the chocolate came through strongly, so couldn’t compare those notes, but overall he thought it went very well together. This well-cooked chili was his favourite food of the day and I was a little jealous that he got to enjoy two whole bowls.