As anyone working in the wine industry will tell you, there are a lot of great wine-oriented holiday gift options out there.  Unfortunately, there are far more awful wine-oriented gift options around.  For every classic, simple decanter there are a dozen different plastic wine goblets with flashing LED lights on ‘em.  This ongoing, sporadic Gift Guide aims to help you sift out the good from the bad. Happy holiday shopping!

The Good Gift

Our good friends James & Kenji are already up to the 5th edition of their perennial BC bestseller, had a glass!  In their always casual, charming and hilarious style, the boys offer their top 100 wines for under $20, $25, and $30 along with food pairing tips and tasting notes.  A great gift for BC wine pals, all wines in the book are currently available in the BCLDB system and ideally in good supply.  The writing is entertaining and witty enough for wine professionals, and there’s a great little front section detailing with quick little wine lessons for the novice.  You can always order copies form Amazon, but we like to support local independents like Duthie’s or Blackberry Books, both of which are conveniently next door to wine stores!  At $19.95, it’s not only a great read, but the gift that keeps on giving (while keeping an eye on your pocketbook) the whole year through.

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The Bad Gift

At $12 (US), I’m thinking that someone’s coming out way ahead on this transaction, and it’s certainly not the one on the receiving end.  Yes, these Golden Girls Tribute Wine Glass Charms will be hilarious when opened, but after a few glasses of holiday bubble, is anyone really going remember if they were Blanche or Sofia?  Not to mention that a back issue of People Magazine and a quick pass through the Hobby Store can enable you to fashion up these wonders quite quickly for a quarter of the price!  For a gift that’s basically a quick, cheap expensive laugh, these’ll be at the back of the junk drawer within hours.