California Wine Gifts

Shipping Wine

Before you decide to purchase California wine gifts, it is important to know just where wine can be legally shipped. Within the United States it can be shipped to the following states:

• Arizona
• California
• Colorado
• Connecticut
• District of Columbia
• Florida
• Hawaii
• Idaho
• Illinois
• Indiana
• Iowa
• Louisiana
• Minnesota
• Missouri
• Nebraska
• Nevada
• New Hampshire
• New Mexico
• North Carolina
• North Dakota
• New York
• Ohio
• Oregon
• South Carolina
• Texas
• Vermont
• West Virginia
• Wisconsin
• Wyoming

Many companies that ship California wine also will send gifts to Europe and Canada. Due to laws in New York and Connecticut, food and wine is shipped separately. In addition, the buyer needs to be 21 to purchase gift baskets that include wine.

Michigan, Vermont and Washington allow limited shipments of wine from other states. Each company that sells wine online states the current shipping policy on their website.

Gift Baskets

Gift baskets are one of the easiest California wine gifts to purchase for someone. The companies that make these baskets have taken the hard part of shopping for individual items out of the gift buying equation. All the buyer needs to do is decide which items the recipient will enjoy, and of course, the accompanying wine. Examples of these types of gift baskets include:

• Pinot Grigio gift baskets -The contents of this basket are centered on De Canal Pinot Grigio from Tuscany, Italy. This particular basket is also packed with cinnamon roasted cashews, chocolate cookies, sesame breadsticks, garlic pasta mix, dipping herbs, penne pasta and Colavita marinara sauce. Total cost $29.95 plus $9.95 shipping.
• Classic Wine and Cheese basket from California - What better accompaniment for delicious wines than fabulous cheeses? This wine and cheese basket includes Geyser Peak Chardonnay along with California crisps crackers, jack cheese spread, almonds and Ghirardelli chocolate. The cost of this basket is $59.99 plus shipping based on location.
• 4 California Wines Sampler - What could be more fun than a California wine tasting party? This special sampler contains four different wines currently available in California. The selection varies depending on availability. The cost of this selection is $47.95 plus shipping based on location.
• Tour a Wine Region gift basket - This delicious sampler basket includes a variety of items popular in California. The selection includes three bottles of wine – Concannon Cabernet Sauvignon, Wente Sandstone Merlot and Geyser Peak Sauvignon Blanc. Food items include Sonoma parmesan jack cheese, Ghirardelli Masterpiece Truffles, beef salami, Napa Valley mustard, Spanish olives, California pistachios, toasted sesame crackers and lemon almond cookies. The cost of this basket is $99.00 plus shipping based on location.

Wine Clubs

If you can't decide on a particular wine or wine gift basket, consider a wine club. Wine clubs are popular because they are literally the gift that keeps on giving. Each month, for a duration you choose, the recipient will receive a different California wine. Recipients enjoy these types of gifts because they keep receiving something special each month. The sender benefits because the recipient remembers them each time they receive a new bottle of wine. It is a win-win situation! There are many wine clubs to choose from and prices vary depending upon the level of wines and champagnes that are chosen. Options for wine gift giving are 3, 6 and 12-month memberships. Popular wine club websites include the following:

• California Wine Club – Enjoy limited production wines, personally selected by the club owners, from the best wineries in California.
• Gold Medal Wine Club – Features hard-to-find gold medal winning wines in California.
• Wine Insiders Wine Club - Receive two different bottles of choice California wines each month.
• California Reds – Offers a monthly selection of red wines from the Napa Valley region.
• Celebrations Wine Club – Choose California wines from the Winemaker series, Artisan series or a combination of the two.
• AVA California Wine – Receive two boutique California wines each month while enrolled in this club. Features of this particular club are kosher and organic wines.

If you have wine connoisseurs on your gift list this year, consider purchasing California wine gifts for them. Whether you buy combination gift baskets, wine club memberships or selections of wine only, you'll be sending something unique that will be remembered and enjoyed by the recipient.