Best Wines to Give as a Gift This Christmas

Christmas is right around the corner, and it is time to choose a gift for your beloved friends or family members. This moment is an exciting one but also challenging since you would want to be authentic and surprise the people you love the most.

A quality wine can be a perfect gift for this occasion, but is it interesting not to go along with the traditional choices of the most popular wines that everyone knows. Instead, why not purchase something different, or a wine made from grapes that are underrated or rare to find but still top-rated in the wine industry. That way, you will surprise the person you are gifting, and you will show that you tried to buy something authentic and didn’t buy a present only because it is Christmas.

So let’s get into it and see several wines that are rare and unique to make the perfect Christmas gift for your loved ones.

Grenache

Believe it or not, Grenache or Garnacha is one of the most widely planted wine grape varieties all across the globe. It is a red wine grape, and it needs dry, hot conditions like the ones available in Spain since it ripens late. Of course, it is grown in other places like California, Sardinia, Australia, France, etc.

Grenache is bright in colour, medium to full-bodied, and has aromas of raspberry, tobacco plum, and orange rind. It typically has plush berries and medium acidity with balanced tannins, making it a drinkable wine that wine lovers adore. The style and taste, of course, may vary depending on where the grapes are grown, but in essence, these are the typical characteristics.

Wine from this grape pairs well with grilled and braised meats like pork, chicken, beef, veal, and similar ones. So you will buy a rare wine that will surprise your friend and provide them with a wine that is great for food pairing.

Carmenere

When someone thinks of Chilean wines, the first association usually is Merlot. And it is logical not to think of Carmenere since these grapes were first grown in France, but times change, so now you can rarely find them in France, but you can easily find them in Chile. It is also one of the hard-to-find wines, but don’t worry, you can visit and find out more on a site like 8wines and purchase some of the most interesting Carmenere wines.

The main reason why this wine is rare to find is that it is susceptible to phylloxera, and it is not easy to produce it, but since it is not so easy to find it, that is what makes it the perfect Christmas gift for your friend. Carmenere is a grape that, if grown at optimal conditions, can produce a wine that is somewhat similar to Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot, but since you want to surprise your friend Carmenere is a much better choice. A bottle of wine made from this grape gives excellent softness, smoothness, and a taste of spicy berry flavours.

Godello

Godello is a Spanish wine from the northwest regions of Spain from which white wine is made. A fun fact is that Godello would have disappeared from the wine industry, but luckily for you, because of the enormous effort of a small number of growers, Godello is still available. Not only that, but they also inspired winemakers in Spain and Portugal to try to produce wine from this interesting grape.

With a quality oak aging, this wine can become fuller and richer with a creamy quality, and with steel-tank vinification, it can give a taste of delicate floral aromas of honeysuckle and blossom with crisp freshness. And for unoaked Godello, one can expect an essence of minerality and acidity that distinguishes this wine from others with wildflower flavour, the richness of fruit, and a somewhat denser body than the typical all-mineral wine you usually taste.

Godello is a beautiful choice for your Christmas gift for a wine-loving friend or a family member. And if you visit a friend with children, you can surprise your friend with Godello and buy another gift for the kids to make everyone happy.

Barbera

Last but not least, if you want your friend to have a taste of the history of Italy, you should most certainly buy Barbera as a Christmas gift. Barbera is a red wine grape that was sometimes regarded as ordinary because vineyards in Italy have had it for hundreds of years. But, on the other hand, this is what makes the wines made from this grape special.

It has red fruit flavours like sour cherry with a medium body and exhibits high acidity and low tannins. Barbera is, of course, suitable for Italian cuisine, especially with tomato sauce and other different beef dishes you can cook according to your taste. It is interesting that wines made from Barbera have an excellent aging process and become a lot better through time. But when you drink it young, it also has an exquisite taste, and the best part is that it pairs well with various meaty dishes.

Also, these grapes make additional beautiful flavours for the wine being juicy with deep purple colour. This wine is highly drinkable because of its high acidity, so you can buy even more than one wine for a Christmas gift if you and your friends love to drink a little more.

Final Words

There you have it, several wines that you can give as a gift this Christmas to your beloved friend or a family member. Of course, you can never go wrong with any of these wines, especially if you want to buy a gift that is authentic and different from previous years.

In conclusion, it is easy to go online and buy any wine as a gift, but for a special occasion like Christmas, it is nice to give more effort and buy a wine made from some of the grapes listed above that are rare and unique. So don’t waste any more time and start the journey of making the best possible choice to surprise your friend!