Wine Gift Baskets

Making your own wine gift baskets is a fun way to make a memorable personalized gift for the wine lover in your life. Here are some tips for making wine gift baskets for all of your wine-drinking friends.

Step One: What Kind of Wine do They Like?

The key to a successful wine gift basket is filling it with wine that the recipient will enjoy. Just because you love Merlot doesn’t mean you should give it to your friends who prefer Chardonnay.

If you don’t know what kind of wine you friend likes, scope out his or her wine rack the next time you’re at their house. This will tell you all you need to know. If you see a lot of reds, buy them some red wine. If you see whites, don’t try to convert them. If every bottle is a Syrah, that’s a good indication of what they like.

Step Two: Choosing Bottles

The most fun of making your own wine gift baskets comes from picking out the wines you want to include. Depending on your budget, two or three bottles would make a great gift. If you can afford it, buy one bottle in the low price range, one middle-of-the-road bottle and one pricier bottle. Or if you’re shopping on a budget for someone on a budget, stick to the cheaper bottles. Your friend will appreciate enjoying bottles he or she could actually afford to buy.

If you’re are familiar with your friend’s favorite varietal, check out or reviews for red wines and white wines for a range of good wines for any budget. You can also ask the salespeople at your favorite liquor store or wine shop for the best bottles in your budget. They are paid to know which wines are best, so use that resource.

If all else fails, some wine shops post Wine Spectator’s rankings for the high-ranked bottles. Buying these wines ensures you’ll get good quality for your money.

Step Two: Other Wine Goodies

Of course you don’t want your wine gift baskets to be filled with nothing but wine. Flesh out the basket by including some wine accessories or other goodies. Here are some ideas:

• wine glasses specific to the type of wine you’ve purchased
• decorative wine stoppers
• wine glass charms
• neoprene wine tote
• a nice block of cheese
• crackers
• a small cheese board with cheese knives and spreaders
• some other kind of food that would go well with the wine, such as pasta or smoked salmon
• a wine bottle opener
• a picnic blanket

Step Three: Putting it all Together

Once you’ve collected all the items you want to put in your wine gift baskets, it’s time for assembly. “Wine Gift Baskets” implies that you’re going to put all this stuff in a basket. But there are lots of other ways you could present your gift.

For instance, instead of a standard basket, you could use a picnic basket. Attach a note that says something like “hope your next year’s a picnic!” for a birthday gift. Throw in a weatherproof blanket, a wine opener and some traveling plates and glasses for an easy afternoon picnic.

Look at decorative boxes and bags, and consider any container a potential gift receptacle. Make your gift basket Italian themed by choosing Italian wine, adding pasta, Parmesan cheese and some cured meats. Put your gift in a pasta pot.

You could also combine your gift of wine with another of the person’s hobbies. For instance an avid reader would love a couple bottles of wine, a good book and a bookmark or reading light tucked into a roomy tote bag that could be used to bring home treasures from the library.

A friend who loves to travel would enjoy bottles from several different countries, along with a guide book from one of the countries and maybe some ethnic food. Put everything in a small trunk decorated with travel stickers. Give your gift basket an island flair by wrapping the bottles in colorful fabric, throwing in some sunscreen and a trashy book and enclosing all in a woven grass bag.

Use your imagination to come up with a fun them for your wine gift baskets and your friends and family will be sure to love them.