To try to return a christmas gift of wine which is undrinkable?

[orangefusion]

My mum gave me and dp a box of Italian wine and foodstuffs from a company called Giordano for christmas. I opened the bottle of chianti on boxing day and poured a glass for me and one for ds (20yo). Dp does not drink- ever. We sipped the wine and both declared it to be undrinkable. I emailed the company customer service about it and asked how to return it, they ignored my email.
I poured it down the sink.

This week I opened the second (of 6) bottle- this time a Montepulciano and it tastes old and musty and one sip is enough to tell me it is wrong, off, and just plain nasty. I went onto the website for this company and a little box came up with a friendly "how can I help you?" live chat question. I asked how to return the goods and the box looked for a moment as if it was going to respond- there was a wiggly line of dots. But then they stopped and no answer came back.

AIBU to tell my mum how bad the stuff is and how bad the company are so that she can get her money back? Or to tell her so that she doesn't buy it again next year? Or do I keep schtum and palm it off on tombolas :)?

I would write it off but wonder how I could let my mother know not to use them again without seeming ungrateful.

I would tell your mum - I bet she would rather know and get her money back than be pleased with the gift she got you (and possibly make a habit of it or send similar stuff to someone else) that is actually awful. It's not like you are saying it wasn't a nice gift or criticising her taste, just letting her know that the lovely thought wasn't met by the standards of the product. You have no rights to return it as you are not the company's customer, so you're probably on a hiding to nothing if you try that angle.