Nice wines

[eandz13]

What's a really nice wine I can gift an avid wine drinker with? Red or white. I haven't the foggiest about wine, I never drink it. Not a super cheap one so it seems I've made the effort!

Meursault is a good white but it's expensive.

For red, I like an Aussie shiraz.

Why not go into the shop and ask them their recommendations? I always do this and it's good fun and they always recommend something I wouldn't have thought of.

Something they haven't had before? Something English?

Red - New Zealand Pinot noir
White - Sancerre

What’s your budget? Barolo is a nice red.

@WhatAreWordsWorth up to around £50 maybe?
I'm googling all of these, not a clue what any of the descriptions (dry, mature etc) so I'm going to take a shot in the dark.. I'm thinking a red. They look fruitier

I'd go with Argentinian malbec, or New Zealand pinot noir.

The question is way too broad. Most importantly - what is your budget? Personally, I'd recommend going to an actual wine shop and asking their advice for the price range.

A magnum of red is a nice present. This is a great value red wine:

www.bbr.com/products-20178006446-2017-berry-bros-and-rudd-st-julien-by-chateau-leoville-las-cases-bordeaux

Or white, a Puligny Montrachet.

Just saw your response. If your friend is the type to buy and drink and store very expensive wine, then £50 for a special bottle will be appreciated but you should get advice.

if, however, your friend is just a "normal" person who enjoys good wine, i'd be tempted to rather buy 2 or 3 bottles at a lower price. I have friends who are skint and friends who are frankly loaded and within those I'd say their every day drinking wines are between £5 a bottle and £15 a bottle. So if I ws buying a wine gift for the wealthier ones who like "naice" wine all the time, I'd probably get two bottles at £25ish (perhaps one white and one red) OR possibly, a really good bottle of champagne (if that's their thing). For the ones who were more skint, I'd be inclined to get 3 bottles at around the £15 each range.

If however your friends are like a friend of a friend I know who is a complete wine snob AND absolutely loaded - I wouldn't buy him wine at all because he doesn't buy anything less than £50 a bottle for himself!!!!

I just read that back and it sounds like I think "poor" people should get cheaper wine!!! That's not it at all. I am in the more "skint" category - the vast bulk of the wine I drink is the stuff I get for £7/7.50. A client gave me 6 bottles of super fancy wine at approximately £40 a bottle. I can't bring myself to drink them and am "saving them" for some mythical crazy special occasion because at that price I feel that it's impossible to whip them out for anything less than the bloody queen. I would have been MUCH happier if they'd give me 12 bottles of £20 odd wine. I still wouldn't have opened them while cooking fish fingers and chips for the kids, but I'd have been more inclined to drink them over, say, Sunday lunch with me and DH or whatever as a treat.

this wine is quite a popular one for gifts etc. It's a blend, which is not usually considered "cool" but it's super popular, extremely delicious and I've been to a lot of parties where this has either been poured as a special occasion or handed over as a gift. DH has a bottle in our cupboard someone gave him for his birthday in fact.

this is a very famous South African red.

Personally, I love an American Zinfandel and lots of wine shops have American wines at the higher end of the price range - I see lots of Pinot Noirs too.

I'm partial to a good New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc but have never bought one for more than about £15 so couldn't advise on the really good stuff.

Hungary and Germany are both less well known wine countries but that have some corkers. Again, a good wine shop could probably advise you on something interesting and delicious.

@SpaceOp that's really helpful, thank you! Don't worry, I got what you meant. I think I'll go with your suggestions, one of each

[quote eandz13]@SpaceOp that's really helpful, thank you! Don't worry, I got what you meant. I think I'll go with your suggestions, one of each [/quote]
Phew. Was a bit worried I was coming across as a complete weirdo there!

This is, admittedly, just me - but if someone told me they wanted to spend £50 on two bottles of wine for me, I'd go to a wine shop and ask for their recommendations for a really good German Riesling as my white choice and probably a good Zinfandel from America for the red. On the basis that those are less widely available and normal here and so a little more "interesting"

If I was buying for a particular friend I have in mind, I would probably go into a wine shop and ask them to recommend a nice French or Italian wine at that price point because I know she's more traditional and likes a good French/Italian. Perhaps a nice chateaupneuf du pape for a red and a good sancerre for white. Less interesting, but tasty, reliable and appreciated by people who like traditional wine options. Also widely available.