When it comes to wine drinking there are a lot of components and thousands of gift ideas! Drinking natural wine isn't too different from drinking conventional wine, but we've put some great examples of natural wine gift ideas ranging from literature, wine swag, and the wine itself!
Below we'll walk through each step of the wine process and products we recommend based on your experience and budget:
Wine Opening
Our Take
Opening a bottle of wine seems simple, but most people have strong preferences for how it's done. Our preference is the traditional waiter's corkscrew cut below the lip of the bottle. But, if you have your mother with arthritis coming over, the automatic ones can be pretty fun to play with too.
Our Favorite
Professional Waiter’s Corkscrew - GREAT STOCKING STUFFER!
You can spend a lot of money on a corkscrew, but this one by HiCoup has all the same practical function and you won't be mad if you lose it! The key is to have the two-prong version, one prong makes opening the wine far more difficult and you're likely to put the screw all the way through the cork! Holly loves this one because it's wood and fatter than the metal versions, but the metal ones work too!
For your Mom
Another one where you can spend a lot or a little, but this electric opener has everything you need to get your bottle open in a hurry!
For Old Wine or the Hipster
Ah-So - GREAT STOCKING STUFFER!
If you want to really impress your friends or drink a lot of old wine, the Ah-So, two-pronged opener is a great opener to have in a pinch (get it!). If you have a friend that wants to use something different than
Wine Decanting
Our Take
Not every bottle needs decanting, and decanters don't need to be fancy. The goal is to have a vessel appropriate for wines that need to breathe before drinking. This means those glass ones with toppers that you use for spirits aren't typically the best option, rather those with a larger mouth and room at the top for the wine to breathe!
Also, decanters are great for natural wines, because a lot of times they're still changing and some time in a decanter usually helps them a lot!
Our Favorite
If you're really wanting to impress your friends and have some cash to burn, Zalto is where everyone in wine right now wants their wine from. We love the #75 carafe because it works for whites and reds giving the wine lots of space to breathe at the top. If you're only going to get one type, we would get this! If you have the budget to get the carafe AND the decanter, we'd get this one and put your reds in it then put your whites, roses, and oranges in the carafe!
For Your Mom
This decanter is exactly what you think of when you picture wine decanting. It has nice curvatures and a large head that makes it easier to pour into. Perfect entry-level decanter and one to please your mom!
For your Hipster Friend
This one is kind of a joke, but if that's what you're going for then this may work for you too! While not the best vessel for your wine, it does the job in a pinch, is multipurpose, and is far less likely to crack. The pic above was taken at an Airbnb in Canada, so you can always get creative when traveling!
For your Holiday Party
All the rage in Spain! The porron is a perfect way to add some fun to the wine drinking at your holiday event! Check out the video to see Nic demonstrate completely, but basically fill it with wine (white is best to start in case you spill!), don't put your mouth on the pourer and let it stream into your mouth! More points for the higher you take it!
Glassware
Our Take
As people who frequently break glassware (RIP first Zaltos), we find it best to use just one kind of universal glass for all wine types (except maybe sparkling). Then, have a set for when you are having company over (less expensive) and a set for when you're really contemplating a wine (nicer set). We'll do a whole blog on this at some point, but here's the quick overview!
For Having Friends Over
When you have friends over you don't want to worry about glasses breaking or not having enough of one kind. Buy a couple of sets of universal glasses, put some out and leave a box in storage for when that time does come and you need to bring in backup.
For Focusing on Wine Tasting
Zalto Denk'Art Universal Glass
Back on the Zalto train, if you have the money to spend, these guys really are the best in the show. The universal glass is built to work with most wines and will really up to your tasting experience. Just put them away after you've had a bit of wine and switch to your regular glasses so you don't risk them!
Preserving
Our Take
This might be hard to believe, but sometimes people don't finish drinking all the wine and want a way to ensure the wine is preserved while between drinking. While none of these options work forever, they will greatly enhance the amount of time you can continue enjoying your wines.
While there are lots of options for this, and many that are hilarious gifts like the wine condoms, we aren't putting those on the list because we don't believe those options work any better than putting the cork back in! Absolutely go for those if you're looking for laughs, but if you're wanting to help the wine last longer, these are our two go-to methods.
Before You Open
By far one of the coolest inventions to come to wine in this decade. The Coravin allows you to pour a taste or glass of your wine before opening it, replacing the space with argon gas. If you just want to try the wine before opening, this is a great way to do so! We love ours and use it often, but we are also in the wine industry, so if you're planning on having more than 1 glass from a bottle, it may make more sense to just pump it!
Also, there are multiple versions of the Coravin, some are much sexier than others, but we have the lowest version and it works perfectly and the same as the others, so unless you want special colors, the blue and white is perfect!
After You Open
Wine Pump - GREAT STOCKING STUFFER!Neither sexy nor expensive, the wine pump is the best way to take out as much air as possible from the bottle after it's open The simplest way to get the air out of your bottle is to pump it out with a special stopper that allows the air to come through and reseal. This is a great stocking stuffer or small gift and you can usually find them in most stores or Amazon.
For Sparkling
Sparkling Wine Stopper - GREAT STOCKING STUFFER!
If you have wines with carbonation, the pump won't always work and may scare you to death when it shoots off the bottle in the middle of the night in your fridge (speaking from experience). For these wines, there are some really simple securing toppers that keep the carbonation in and preserve it for normally a day, maybe two depending on the wine.
Actual Wine!
Our Take
As natural wine drinkers, getting natural wine as a gift is probably the best thing you can send (except maybe some Zaltos)! Because we're able to ship to 46 states, it's likely that we can send natural wine directly to your loved one and have made some special options for this blog!Starter Kit
For your friend that you're working to get into natural wine this box includes three natural wines in different styles and tasting notes, a book on natural wine and a waiter's corkscrew to get them started on the right foot!
Natural Wine Club
For the person that you want to try out multiple types of natural wine over time, we have several options for gifting the wine club to your friends including one-time purchases, pre-paid months, or full subscriptions for the best friend/husband/wife/parent award!
Reading
Our Take
There are so many great books out there on natural wine that we've made a whole section of our website dedicated to it! But here are a few quick recommendations:
The Books
Natural Wine by Isabelle Legeron
As the founder of the RAW WINE events and a Master of Wine, Isabelle literally wrote the book on Natural Wine. It's a great read and a must-have for anyone learning about natural wines.
Natural Wine for the People by Alice Feiring
One of the earliest commentators on natural wine, Alice Feiring has made a wonderful introductory book to natural wine, what it is, where you can find it, and the people who make it.
Conclusion
We hope this helps you find some great gifts for the natural wine lovers in your life from this list! There is so much to pick from with actual wine to literature, to fun accessories, and new ways to experience the wine. We hope you find what you were looking for.
Holly Berrigan is the Founder of MYSA Natural Wine. She has a WSET Level 3 certification with Distinction, is a member and writer for the Porto Protocol and Slow Food USA, and is a student in Sustainable Agriculture at the University of Massachusetts Stockbridge.
