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
I’m bringing all gift suggestions of a readable nature. Aren’t most wine enthusiasts also book enthusiasts anyway? The first being a high quality and hefty magazine called The World of Fine Wine. You’re going, $40 for a magazine? Well, it’s actually a quarterly that’s packed with in depth and relevant articles from a revolving list of some of the world’s top wine writers. Plus, the fact that it’s not something you’d often buy for yourself makes it such a great gift. The next issue is released on Dec 22, so that should work out perfectly. In Canada, I’ve seen it at Chapters.
British Columbian wine expert John Schreiner, released The Wineries of British Columbia earlier this year. With descriptions and background stories from all 180ish wineries, this is BC’s current wine bible. I picked up a copy earlier this summer and I love it. Plus, if you order it online from Chapters, it’s less than $20.
The Bad Gift
Please promise me that you will never buy anyone the Butterfly Wine Opener. (It even costs too much for a gag gift…I already thought of that).
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7 Responses:
December 15th, 2009 at 12:29 pm
Is there any form of wine opener that is acceptable to hardcore wine people aside from a waiters tool? Additionally, if not why & if so what and why?
Always been curious about that one.
December 15th, 2009 at 12:48 pm
Oh, totally. The regular “winged” kind are great, and the Rabbit is certainly sleek and well-made. I also like the big levered ones that affix to a bar like in old school pubs.
What us ‘hardcore’ people deplore are the ones that make things more complicated in the interest of making the consumer pay way too much, being duped into thinking their product will make life easier.
Like, say, the one Jake listed above, which is to open a Stelvin (screwcap) bottle and has the nerve to market and retail for $25(!) when ANYONE CAN USE THEIR OWN FUCKING HAND FOR FREE!
December 15th, 2009 at 12:53 pm
Yeah agreed, I think In a restaurant setting, I’d say probably not. I think it’s a matter of avoiding the use of something bulky and complicated at a table, when really one of the simplest and efficient tools work best (a hinged waiters tool/friend).
If I’m at home, or someone else house, I’ll use any device necessary…
That just got me thinking of an appropriate device/gift for someone old or who suffers from arthritis… the handheld electric corkscrew…
http://www.hammacher.com/Product/77823?source=FROOGLE
December 15th, 2009 at 1:39 pm
At first I was like “what’s wrong with the butterfly opener?” then I watched the video. I can’t believe someone had the balls to create that product. It just grips the screw top! That’s hilarious.
The main selling point seems to be keeping “the romance and ceremony alive in opening a bottle of wine”. Holy shit. They should also make a fake plastic butter churn that you can clip on top of a margarine tub to keep the romance an ceremony of making butter alive.
December 15th, 2009 at 2:12 pm
Haha. Yeah, it’s an ambitious product if nothing else. I wonder how it would have done on the show Dragon’s Den.
December 17th, 2009 at 10:59 am
Hahaha holy hell I didn’t even notice those were screw tops. What a joke.
Thanks for the info guys!
December 17th, 2009 at 10:48 pm
I think for me the reason I prefer the water’s tool is b/c the fancy rabbit openers break when you are opening hundreds of bottles a year. As do all the stupid foil cutters. However, if you have a lack of grip strength, the extra leverage is great.