Best Gifts for the Wine Enthusiast

There's an exciting and ever-expanding collection of gifts available for the quintessential wine-lover. When you're not cash-strapped, a set of wineglasses makes for a stunning present. In this respect, many wine enthusiasts and sommeliers would agree that Riedel makes the best wineglasses.

The company dates way back to 1973 when Claus Riedel came up with the world's first collection of high-end wineglasses, with the idea that different pieces of glassware can be designed to bring out the best qualities from each specific type of wine and enhance the flavors for the drinker. Since then, the company has expanded its collections that appeal to different demographics. It's top-of-the-line collection-and practically the crème de la crème of the wineglass crop-is the Sommelier, with each piece of glassware hand-blown to perfection in the traditional way. These glasses contain 24% lead crystal, which lends an unmistakable sparkle to your wine, as well as that cheery, crispy 'clink' of wineglasses that you get out of holiday toasts. While the taste should be the same, having your drink from a stunning piece of glassware can visually heighten your wine and enhance your overall experience of it.

This sensational experience though, comes at a sensational price. These are typically sold per piece, ranging from around $50-$80. For the cash strapped, Riedel offers its O wine tumblers. This is the company's most popular collection, consisting of glasses from its Vinum collection that have been de-stemmed. The result? Chic, slick, modern wine tumblers that have that Riedel mark of perfection at sensational prices. These glasses typically sell for around $18 apiece. Riedel's O 'Thumb's Up' Decanter is the perfect complement to a set of O wine tumblers. It's incredibly chic, featuring a modern curvy design and a thumb-shaped slot that helps you get that firm grip and an elliptical mouth that promises no-drip pouring. This piece costs around $160 and also contains lead, which greatly enhances the crystal sheen of wine but may be a note of concern for others, since lead has been known to be linked to certain health hazards.

There's also the Metrokane Rabbit Professional Wine Toolkit. This is a sleek new product line. The company offers many different kinds of corkscrews, but its Rabbit collection is by far the most popular. It features a distinct, sleek and ergonomic design (resembling-what else-a rabbit) and the toolkit includes all the essentials: a Rabbit corkscrew, a foil cutter, a drip-stop ring, a "wax whacker" for removing wax seals, a wine and champagne sealer, and a spare spiral for the Rabbit corkscrew. A set typically costs around $60 and makes for a classy gift.

For the artistic wine-lover, a book may be what you need. Icon: Art of the Wine Label is not your typical wine guide. Novice wine enthusiasts, after all, may not appreciate wine guides as much. Instead, this book delves into the thrilling world of the all-important wine labels and bottles. Page after page, you'll pore through a trove of information and pictures that more than satisfies the visual palate and leaves you uttering as many "really"s and "oohs". Not surprising for a book that won three awards from the Wine Appreciation Guild-the most for any wine book ever-including Best Wine Book of 2003 and Best Wine Book In the World for Professionals of the same year. This is sure to be a gem of a coffetable book and certainly worth the $80 you'll plunk down for it.

If the person in mind is a beginning wine enthusiast, you may want to purchase a Wine Bouquet Kit, a very creative offering that can be purchased from wineenthusiast.com. These are little kits that contain many different vials of wine scents that will help train any beginner's olfactory senses to learn and remember the distinguishing and subtle aromas of different kinds of wine. Give them one of these and watch your loved one become a budding wine connoisseur in no time! It's also the perfect companion for hosting a blind wine tasting party, at a relatively affordable $99.95.

Of course, wine preservers are also invaluable to keeping the flavor of opened bottles of wine fresh and good as new. The PEK Supremo Wine Preservation and Temperature Control Steward is an ultra-modern wine preservation system that sets you back by roughly $200, but it has a very hardy reputation. It's a sleek silver capsule that injects your unfinished bottle of wine with inert argon gas, keeping it fresh and perfect at controlled temperatures that you choose, for up to 2 weeks. It's said to be even 80% more efficient than traditional nitrogen preservation systems-a surefire hit for the quintessential wine lover.