Serious wine drinkers tend to be picky, with fierce opinions about the best bottles. So if you’re searching for a gift for such a person, consider something that is wine adjacent. You can veer toward the practical, like a new set of deeply coveted, expert-approved wine glasses. Or maybe something beautiful, like a wine stopper that looks like a piece of art. Or maybe something unexpected, like a salty snack to pair with their favorite bottle. To track down the best gifts for the wine drinkers in your life, I asked nearly two dozen sommeliers, winemakers, and wine bar and wine shop owners to share their go-to ideas. Over the years, I’ve also written about tons of wine tools, wine glasses, and accessories, so I combed through those stories and pulled some of my favorite items that felt worthy of a spot on this list.
When we spoke to serious wine professionals about the best electric wine-bottle openers on the market, they went on and on about this one. The price is right, it can go 80 hours without a charge, and it has a handy vacuum-seal stopper.
For something less expensive, this electric corkscrew — T-Pain’s favorite, incidentally — opens bottles super-quickly and doesn’t leave behind any seal or cork.
If your giftee prefers an old-school corkscrew, this one was first brought to our attention by Strategist contributor Chris Black. It was created by Italian designer Alessandro Mendini for Alessi in 1994 and remains just as clever and stylish.
If your wine enthusiast has an extensive collection of older bottles, surprise them with a Durand corkscrew. It combines a classic corkscrew with a forked Ah-So-style wine opener, so it won’t rip the middles out of crumbly corks or accidentally push the cork into the bottle.
Reidel is pretty much the gold standard in wine decanters. For a splurge, there’s a truly lovely 250th-anniversary model that many wine people told us was worth spending over $500 on. For something more modest, consider this lovely Reidel Ultra. Multiple oenophiles told us it will do the job well, and it’s obviously elegant enough to keep out on the table.
For a decanter in the $50 department, we like this one with a handy slanted opening that makes for an easier pour.
For those who would rather just get the show on the road, this electric wine aerator comes highly recommended.
And for dinner parties that tend to get a bit rowdy, a porrón is a super-fun alternative to a more traditional decanter because you can pour wine directly into your mouth using the long spout.
This wine funnel is great for decanting particularly old or young bottles that need to aerate as well as fishing out any bits if a cork breaks while opening. (It happens to everyone.)
If your wine enthusiast is more of a picnicking type, this Le Creuset wine-cooler sleeve uses two removable gel packs to chill a bottle of wine in 30 minutes — and keep it cold for another 90.
The Corkcicle is certainly a more refined way to chill wine than putting ice cubes in your Chardonnay.
Gift a serious at-home taster the universal Zalto: It’s the wineglass against which all others are measured.
Burgundy-heads (or anyone who prefers red wine) will appreciate this decanterlike bell-shaped design, also from Zalto, which lets the wine breathe.
For Chardonnay snobs, try Sophienwald’s white-wine glasses, which feature a narrow mouth for less air contact, highlighting the wine’s bright flavor.
Strategist editor Maxine Builder has written before about how she whips these glasses out when she’s drinking something “that deserves a proper sniff and swirl” or she wants to “make a glass of cheap wine seem like more of an event.” They’re composed of thin, German-made glass that feels fancy, but Builder says she won’t lose a night of sleep if someone breaks one accidentally.
The shape of this glass enhances the minerality of sparkling wine — perfect for the friend who drinks Champagne year-round.
And for the Champagne drinker who prefers their stemware to have a bit more personality: these iridescent coupes from Estelle Colored Glass.
If you’re sneaking an entire bottle of wine onto a beach or just want to pour ice-cold white wine in the park, the BrüMate can hold up to one full bottle.
While quick-cooling gadgets are good on the go, for the consummate host, consider gifting this nice-looking polished stainless-steel bucket. This one can be monogrammed and holds several bottles.
If you want to splurge on a gift for the serious wine collector in your life, consider a wine fridge, so they can properly store their collection at optimum temperature.
And if you want to seriously splurge, the stylish Rocco is a newer addition to the wine-fridge space with all the bells and whistles.
If you’re gifting a wine drinker who never finishes a bottle (or likes to open multiple bottles of wine at once), this four-pack will ensure they always have enough wine-saving stoppers on hand.
If your favorite wine lover tends to be forgetful, try the Pulltex, which creates an airtight seal and features a day indicator so they can easily remember when it was first opened.
A Vacu Vin sealer is a longtime favorite of sommeliers that’ll preserve an already-open bottle of wine by pulling wine-killing oxygen out of the bottle.
And for something a bit more high-tech, Coravin’s wine-preservation system protects the wine in your bottle from oxidation by using a nifty hollow needle that pierces the cork without pushing it into the bottle, which allows you to pour out a glass or two without actually opening the bottle at all.
If your giftee prefers bubbly, the Fante’s Champagne stopper will make sure no bottle of Champagne (or other sparkling wine) goes to waste.
For those who often get overserved, having a bottle of Drinkwel on hand after a hard night of drinking provides hang-over relief, as well as liver and kidney support.
Looking for a perfect stocking stuffer? This set of wool wineglass rings from Graf Lantz looks great (and will help keep germs at bay during holiday-party season).
For the giftee with a coffee-table-ring vendetta, try this set of sleek spiral coasters from Sophie Lou Jacobsen.
For the wine drinker who always brings a bottle of Glou Glou to the table, Las Jaras Wines has just released this cylindrical wine tote, made from waxed cotton duck canvas and calf leather, that can hold six bottles of wine (and has a convenient wine key pocket).
For a perfect snack pairing, you can’t go wrong with a case of fancy potato chips that your giftee probably wouldn’t splurge on themselves.
Strategist senior editor Chelsea Peng is a fan of this melt-in-your-mouth jamón ibérico, with pronounced floral and nutty notes. This, too, would be a thoughtful accompaniment to an actual bottle.
This Murray’s Cheese basket, specifically meant to pair with red wine, comes with four different types of cheeses, plus flatbread and olives for all the snacking they could possibly do over their favorite Pinot Noir or Lambrusco.
Or try this tinned-fish boxed set from Jose Gourmet, which includes mackerel packed in olive oil, spiced squid in ragout, and two different types of sardines.
And any wine-loving cook in your life would be thrilled to have a stash of Sfoglini to add to their pantry.
Turns out, winemakers often produce really good olive oil, too. This bottle from Sicily has notes of sweet herbs and citrus with a mellow piquant finish.
Though this status-y tote from Brooklyn’s Four Horsemen looks like a straightforward carryall, it’s actually a wine bag that has separators inside for up to four bottles, plus an interior pocket for small essentials and a zip top.
If your recipient is into hosting, pair a bottle of wine with tapered candles for their tablescape.
A snappy and accessible guide to training your palate so you won’t freeze up the next time someone asks about a wine’s notes.
For serious wine nerds, this highly giftable boxed set includes two tomes on all things French wine.
This isn’t strictly a wine book, but it is a lovely ode to the joys of eating (and drinking) well.
And if you’ve already gotten your wine lover a wine book for the past three Christmases, consider this Substack subscription that profiles different producers and regions.
This sommelier-curated subscription is about the only way we’d suggest gifting wine. Each themed delivery, highlighting growing regions and grape varieties, might actually teach them something.
And if the person you’re gifting loves to eat out just as much as they love to drink wine, consider our colleagues’ Eater Wine Club — basically the mail-order version of a trusted restaurant sommelier handing you the wine list on a night out.
While boxed wine probably conjures bad memories of college dorm-room Franzia, the boxed-wine space has come a long way. This Sicilian orange wine is perfect for outdoor summer parties and comes in either 1.5-liter or 3.0-liter sizes.
Additional reporting by Emma Wartzman.
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