Shopping for someone who’s truly obsessed with wine is no small feat. The deeper their passion, the more likely it is that they already own every gadget, tool, or accessory they actually want. That’s exactly why I assemble this annual gift guide—it’s a curated selection of things that will delight even the wine lover whose shelves and drawers are already overflowing.

You’ll notice two conspicuous omissions from this guide, and that’s entirely deliberate.

First: you won’t find any specific bottles of wine here. I know people sometimes look at me sideways when I say this, but unless you are absolutely, unequivocally certain that a particular bottle will make their heart skip a beat, it’s best not to give wine to a wine person. When it comes to treasured bottles, most enthusiasts would rather choose their own (which is why you will see wine gift cards below). Of course, if you’re confident a bottle of Soldera Brunello will bring them to their knees, then by all means, do it. Otherwise, steer clear.

Second: there are no wine club subscriptions. None. Don’t even think about it.

And please, let’s not even talk about wine aerators. Truly—spare everyone (and the planet).

You’ll also notice the absence of ornate crystal decanters. They may look impressive in a catalog, but in real life, they’re pricey, bulky, maddening to clean, and often ergonomically ridiculous. My vote for the world’s best decanter? A humble lemonade pitcher or basic carafe. Something you can scrub without acrobatics and replace without taking out a small loan.

But enough about the things you won’t find. Let’s get to what you will find: thoughtful stocking stuffers, reliable mid-priced gifts, and a handful of genuinely luxurious, design-forward accessories. There’s something here for every type of wine lover, no matter how picky or well-equipped they may be.

Interesting, in assembling this year’s guide, which includes many items I’ve recommended before, the tariffs and inflation have clearly reared their heads. I’ve had to adjust the price of nearly every previously recommended item upwards, save for those that were on sale this year. If you’re thinking that this might be a year to opt out of the craziness of consumerism, I’d certainly raise a glass to that.

Wishing you a joyful (and delicious) holiday season, however you shop and however you celebrate.

Stocking Stuffers

When you’re looking for something inexpensive, here’s a range of gift ideas from $5 to $50 that aren’t run-of-the-mill.

The BEST SPARKLING BOTTLE STOPPER

Now, finishing a bottle of Champagne or sparkling wine, once opened, should not be that much of a problem, but occasionally everyone ends up with a bottle you want to save for another day. You could shove a regular wine cork into that bottle, but there’s no guarantee it will fit, or if it does, that it will seal very well. That’s where sparkling bottle stoppers come in handy. However, not all these devices are created equal, and in particular, not all of them will fit every bottle you come across. But this one will. Rather than having a rubber piece that goes into the neck of the bottle, this one has a small rubber pad that seals the top of the bottle, as the spring-loaded side clamps grab hold of the bottle securely. It offers a tight seal that does an excellent job of preserving the bubbles. Every bubbly lover should have at least one. $24.85 each. Buy them at Amazon.

Filtering Wine Funnel

I don’t use it all that often, but there are times when I absolutely need this little sucker, usually after a cork has disintegrated into the bottle. It’s billed as an aerating funnel, which is a little ridiculous since the action of pouring wine through it would aerate the wine just fine, even if it didn’t have the little sideways holes at the end. But I love the fact that the screen and the funnel are separate, which makes the whole contraption easy to clean. You can buy it on Amazon for $19.99

Simple Wine Carriers

I’ve got more stylish (and far more expensive) options for carrying wine around below, but I have to say that my default way of dragging a couple of bottles over to a friend’s house or out to dinner is with one of these Built neoprene wine carriers. They’re padded, sturdy, slightly insulating, and sophisticated enough that I don’t feel at all self-conscious showing up at a restaurant with one of these in tow. From $18.04 at Amazon (but currently on sale for $12.49).

Wearable, Insider Wine Humor

How do you know someone is really a wine insider? They show up to a wine tasting wearing one of André Mack’s t-shirts. Mack is a sommelier-turned-winemaker, as well as one heck of a t-shirt designer. Most people I know in the wine business have at least one of his shirts. My favorites include the Oscar Jayer (My Bourgogne has a second name, it’s J-A-Y-E-R), and Barolo King. The shirts run $25 apiece, and you can check out the full selection of delicious logo jokes and other wine ironies at Maison Noir.

The Best Stemware Cleaning Device

Washing your nice wine glasses is always an exercise in gentle deliberate movements. But that’s invariably when most delicate glasses are broken (other than being accidentally knocked onto the floor). You have to be careful when washing stemware, but on the other hand, sometimes they can be a royal pain to clean, especially if, like me, you have slightly larger hands that don’t always fit along with that brush into the bowl of the glass. This inexpensive little device, then, is your savior. Wonderfully soft and shaped perfectly for wine glasses, it makes quick work of cleaning any glass. $9.98. Available at Amazon.

Gift Certificates for Wine

If all else fails, I don’t know a single wine lover who wouldn’t love a gift certificate to their favorite local wine store. Not all wine stores offer gift certificates, but I’m sure you can find one in your area. If you’re looking for some suggestions, I recommend the following stores that can ship nationally:

Crush Wine Co. in New York
Flatiron Wines in San Francisco
Flatiron Wines in New York
Gary’s Wine and Marketplace in New Jersey
K&L Wines in California

More Substantial Gifts

The Essence of Wine Coffee Table Book

This is a fantastic book. How do I know? I wrote it. A coffee table book of photographs and essays about the many flavors and aromas of wine, it is a collaboration between yours truly and award-winning food photographer Leigh Beisch and her art director, Sara Slavin. The photographs are stunningly gorgeous, and the essays aren’t half bad either. For each of the 46 different aromas profiled in the book, I offer wine recommendations that you can seek out to experience that particular flavor or aroma. The book won the Chairman’s Award at the 2015 Louis Roederer International Wine Writers Awards, and even the New York Times said nice things about it. If your favorite foodie or wine lover doesn’t have a copy yet, it’s a sure-fire gift that’s bound to please. $75, plus $12 for first-class shipping. Buy it from me directly. (note that you gotta order by December 10th to get it in time for Christmas).

Wine Maps

Antonio Galloni has been building his own empire of wine criticism and resources after leaving the employ of Robert Parker in 2013. One of the more interesting, valuable, and beautiful efforts he has undertaken since then has been his work with acclaimed cartographer Alessandro Masnaghetti to create incredibly detailed maps of Napa Valley and its sub-appellations, including many named vineyards. They come in handy folded formats, rolled and suitable for framing, and first-edition signed prints, costing $25, $50, and $500 respectively. Buy them at Vinous.

Masnaghetti also has an amazing set of maps for Piedmont and the Left Bank of Bordeaux, not to mention an encyclopedia of the new Barolo MGAs. You can find all of these starting at $15.95 for the maps at The Rare Wine Co.

Finally, Steve DeLong has been making excellent wine maps for years, and you can see his whole assortment, starting at $30 over at DeLong Wine.

A NEW AND DIFFERENT WAY TO LOOK AT WINE

You’ve heard of the fabled Unified Field Theory that will finally connect the disciplines of quantum physics, string theory, and Newtonian physics? Well, this book by celebrated sommelier Pascaline Lepeltier isn’t quite a Unified Field Theory for wine, but it’s the closest anyone is likely ever to get. Peltier takes a wholly different approach to exploring the world of wine that is intricate, full of subtlety, and cuts no corners. It’s intellectual, philosophical, scientific, and utterly compelling for serious wine geeks, who will find it a very refreshing new angle on topics familiar and obscure. It can be read cover to cover, or picked up like a reference book and digested in small chunks. Regardless, it is a phenomenal work of scholarship and passion, and an important addition to any wine library. Get it for $36.30 hardcover from Amazon.

The Durand Wine Opener for Older Wines

If you’re dealing with a serious wine lover, especially one who regularly opens older bottles of wine, you can’t find a better gift for them than The Durand wine tool. Specifically designed to deal with the most fragile of corks, this handy little tool is an awesome piece of wine equipment. I use mine all the time, and it has saved me from the dreaded dissolving-cork syndrome more than a few times. It’s worth every penny of its $145 price tag. Available from The Durand.

Inexpensive Wine Storage and Racking

When someone is ready to start actually storing their wine (as opposed to just shoving it in some corner), the question of racks or shelving immediately arises. There are an infinite number of approaches and almost an infinite amount of money that can be spent on the creation of a proper wine cellar, but for most mortals, something more practical is in order. That’s where these ingenious stacking wine bins come in. Now they’re not gorgeous cedar racks that showcase every bottle individually, but most people don’t have that option. Instead, these are sturdy crates that each hold 12 bottles (or 6 magnums) and that can be stacked 6 or 7 high. The handy drop-down access door allows you to pull out a bottle or three, even when stacked. They’re not sexy, but they really do the trick. They start at $75 for three of them or $216 for nine. Available at DomaineStorage.

Fun With Bubbly and Friends

Juvenile? Yes. A waste of good sparkling wine? Probably. Kinda fun regardless? Totally. This little device, the Bubbly Blaster, turns any bottle of sparkling wine into a spray gun. You can shoot people from 25 feet away with a thin stream of sparkling wine. If you’re really talented or ambitious, you can try to get it into their mouths or glasses, but honestly, this is just about being ridiculously conspicuous, which is why the damn thing looks gold-plated. On the other hand, the thing doubles as a bottle stopper, which keeps your bottle fresh if you leave it in. So if you know someone who wants moments in their life that feel like a party of super-rich people at an expensive resort, then this is precisely the gift for them. There’s even (sigh) a version that comes with an iPhone mount for ‘da Gram. On sale for $59.99 at the Bubbly Blaster website.

A Subscription to the World of Fine Wine

Easily the best wine periodical in the world, each hefty, quarterly issue of The World of Fine Wine is more like a book than a magazine. Filled with great photography, fantastic writing, and top-quality wine criticism, this magazine will appeal to anyone who brings a bit of an intellectual bent to their wine appreciation. I like to think of it as Granta for wine. The World of Fine Wine is where some of the best wine writing is being done today. $230 per year for a US Subscription printed on dead trees. You can also get digital subscriptions through their handy iPhone and iPad app, which may be preferable for those who don’t want to have these big, thick magazines stack up around the house (as beautiful as they are, they do really take up a lot of shelf-space after a few years). Digital subscriptions will run you roughly $80 per year. Purchase a gift subscription at World of Fine Wine.

The Best Everyday Wine Glasses

You know all that talk about the different wine glasses you need for different grape varieties? It’s all hogwash. You need only one glass for red, white, and sparkling wines, and for most people, this Schott Zwiesel Tritan will suffice. Titanium crystal is the sturdiest stuff on the market, and this glass is both visually elegant, modern in style, and perfectly shaped for wine. It also happens to be quite reasonably priced for a top-quality wine stem. This is what I use at home when I’m not drinking from my precious set of Zaltos (see below). Less than $110 for a set of six (though currently on sale for $53 for Black Friday). I like the “Red Wine / Water” size of glass. If you want larger glasses, go for their Cabernet stem; if you want slightly smaller glasses, choose their Sauvignon Blanc stem. Each will do the trick for any wine. Buy on Amazon.

Corkscrew, New and Improved

For a long time, the answer to the question “how do I get the wine out of the bottle” was really best answered by a $12 waiter’s friend corkscrew, or, on the other end of the spectrum, something like what I call “the Maserati of corkscrews” (see below), which can run you upwards of $1000. I’ll tell you, I’m quite happy with the $12 waiter’s friend most of the time (except when I really need my Durand). But, there is now something in the middle between these two options that is worth considering as a gift for a serious wine lover. It’s a complete engineering rethink of the standard waiter’s friend corkscrew, with some nice aesthetics and more precision machining. It’s called The Best Wine Key, and it was developed in conjunction with superstar sommelier André Hueston Mack (he of the aforementioned T-shirts), and it looks pretty slick. I haven’t used one myself, but I’m definitely looking for the opportunity to try. You can get it from the manufacturer, Craighill, for prices starting at $98.

EVERYDAY Wine Preservation with THE CORAVIN PIVOT

Coravin changed the game when it came to drinking a single glass of any wine without opening the bottle (see more expensive gifts below). But they haven’t stopped innovating. Their Pivot product, released a couple of years ago, now makes it possible to drink a bottle of wine over the course of a week or two without any loss in quality due to oxidation. Simply uncork the bottle, immediately pop in one of the Pivot wine stoppers, and then attach the pivot device, which you then use to pour a glass (or two) of wine. Remove the device, close the ca,p and throw the bottle into the fridge until the next time you want a glass. It’s as simple as it is ingenious, and the argon capsules seem to last a long time. Buy a kit for $199 that includes cartridges and stoppers at Amazon.

Turn Wine Leftovers into Artisan Vinegar

Sometimes you don’t want to drink the leftovers, or sometimes you don’t get around to it. So why not put them to some use? Most wine lovers I know also happen to be foodies and appreciate the difference between good vinegar and bad vinegar. This 5-liter oak barrel (which you could even personalize with a name) is the perfect way to make and age your own wine vinegar. Just simply add a little high-quality vinegar to start, and then gradually fill up the barrel with unused, good-quality wine, and violá. I’ve been using one for three or four years now, and the vinegar is starting to get really good as the initial oak charring on the inside of the barrel becomes less perceptible. It takes about 4-6 months for each batch of wine to go from wine to something ready for salad dressing. $109 for the 5-liter version. Other sizes are available. Buy at Amazon.

Ultimate Indulgences — The Expensive Stuff

If price is not an issue, and you want to get your favorite wine geek something special, here’s a list of gifts at which no one can turn up their nose.

The Ultimate Wine Glass

There are wine glasses, and then there are wine glasses. Not too long ago, the folks at Zalto reset the bar for what truly fine, modern crystal wine glasses could be. Drinking from an incredibly delicate stem like this represents the most luxurious way to appreciate any wine. If money is no object and you’re looking for a treat to give your favorite wine lover, there are few things that will impress as much as these glasses. Lead-free, handblown crystal. $78 each. I recommend their so-called Universal Glass. Buy them from The Manufactory.

Carry Wine Bottles With Class

I don’t know about you, but I’m thrilled at the opportunity to have dinner with friends again. And when the opportunity arises, I’m bringing wines from my cellar because, well, life’s too short. It’s time to drink great wine with friends again. So when schlepping wine over to someone’s house for dinner or out to a restaurant, you want to carry the wine safely, securely, and (for some) stylishly. Which is where a really nice leather wine tote comes in. This one from Royce will set you back $375.

If you’re serious about Decanting Delicately

People make too much of a big deal over decanting for the most part (see my rant above), however, when you’re dealing with older bottles, sometimes you really do need to approach the process of uncorking and decanting delicately, and for that you need a properly angled cradle for your precious old bottle of wine that will gently move the sediment to the bottom of the bottle. It also nicely presents the bottle at the tableside for you and your guests. If you’ve ever had proper decanting service in a French restaurant, this is usually done with some sort of wicker contraption, which looks (and might actually be) right out of the 19th Century. For those looking for a more modern aesthetic, there is now the Vinsling, a machined metal and leather contraption that brings a bit more modern feel to the whole process. Leather color options are available. Get it for $175 at the manufacturer’s website, Vinsling.Com.

DRINK THE WINE YOU WANT, WHEN YOU WANT IT WITH CORAVIN

Greg Lambrecht, the inventor of the Coravin, faced a common dilemma: he wanted to drink some of the wine he had in his cellar, but he couldn’t finish a whole bottle (since his wife was pregnant and was not going to help). As a vascular surgeon and an inventive guy, Lambrecht started fiddling around with the hollow needles of his trade, a little inert gas, and voilá: a revolution in the wine world. Coravin allows you to drink any amount of wine from a bottle sealed with a cork, and then perfectly preserve the remainder for another time. The company has recently released a snazzy new, limited edition “Hermitage Red” colored version of their “Timeless” product, and it’s on sale for Black Friday. You can get it for $227.40 at Amazon (normally $379).

Temperature Makes a Big Difference

Wine refrigerators are something of a fraught topic for wine collectors, and there seems to be almost no price ceiling for these appliances. Anyone looking to store more than 80 bottles or so will have a lot of specific criteria for a wine fridge, not least of which involves the dimensions of the space where said fridge will live. But for those who might have more modest needs, like keeping a few dozen bottles chilled to the correct temperature in their kitchen, smaller wine chillers can be quite handy. The primary key feature you want in a wine fridge is shelves that pull out to let you see the bottles and easily access your bottles. This particular little no-frills unit holds 51 bottles and can be built into a cabinet or sit freestanding. It also happens to be on sale right now at a serious discount. Currently on sale at Vinotemp for $649.

If you really must saber your bubbly…

Sabering champagne is a party trick that will impress anyone who hasn’t seen it before. But for anyone who wants to drink some good Champagne, chopping the top off of your Champagne bottle (and the preparation required to do it properly) simply takes far too much effort. However, if you’re going to do it, you might as well do it with class. Provided you don’t have a sword hanging on the wall somewhere already, you’d do far worse than to use this stylish modern saber from the masters of silver, Georg Jensen. You can find it at Bloomingdales for $199.

Fly Safely With Wine

Figuring out how to bring some excellent bottles of wine with you on vacation can be tricky. There’s the roll-it-up-in-a-t-shirt approach to traveling with wine, and then there’s the classy way: the VinGarde Valise. It’s simple. The Valise is a specialized suitcase that holds 12 bottles of wine, plus a change of clothes, and all but guarantees that your precious oeno-cargo gets there safely. The 12-bottle model starts at $339 but is currently available at Amazon for $244 on sale.

Learn About and Celebrate Australian Wine

We tend to throw around the word “authoritative” casually in this day and age of hyperbole, and with a deep and constantly changing subject like wine, approaching the status of truly authoritative remains mighty hard to do. But there’s no better word to describe the monumental work of scholarship that is the three-volume set, The Australian Ark by Master of Wine Andrew Caillard. Hugely impressive, incredibly informative, beautifully illustrated, this is the book on Australian wine for all time. If you know someone who prides themselves on a rich library of wine books, they need this one in it. Hardcover edition will run you $250 from Academie du Vin Library.

Keep Your Picnic Wines Cool AND CLASSY

There’s nothing worse than a warm bottle of rosé when you’ve got plans for a day at the beach or a picnic in the park. Sure, you could take some ice packs and throw them in a bag, or you could lug a big cooler around, but sometimes what you really need is just a cold couple of bottles of wine. Enter the Fieldbar insulated wine carrier. It can hold two wine bottles (plus a couple of bottles of beer) and thanks to sturdy insulation, keep them chilled for hours. Available from $270 at Harrods.Com

Teach your nose

The best way to train your nose and palate to be able to identify the flavors and aromas of wine is simply to taste and smell widely. There’s no substitute for scraping your fingernail down the side of a Meyer lemon to really experience the aroma and remember it. But even leaving aside the seasonal availability of many fruits, flowers, and herbs, a lot of things we can smell in wine aren’t easy to track down in their “native” form, so to speak. That’s where Le Nez du Vin comes in, with its 54 bottles of aromas for you to sniff and study. Try it blind with a partner, a few aromas at a time, and see if you can improve your sniffing abilities over the course of a month or two. Available from WineAromas.Com for $399. Less extensive versions of the kit are also available for a lower price.

Vintage Wine Posters

Wine advertising hasn’t been the same since about 1895. No seriously. The big illustrated posters advertising wines around the turn of the century represent a high point in wine marketing, in my opinion. These days, they’re collectors’ items, and an original vintage print will set you back a couple of thousand dollars. But they’re beautiful and make wonderful additions to dining rooms, living rooms, studies, and yes, wine cellars, provided you’ve got one big enough to hang out in, let alone with wall space for one of these beauties. There are lots of places to buy such posters online, for various three-to-four-digit price tags, such as Antiqueposters.Com or Vintageposters.Us

The Maserati of Corkscrews

Know someone who opens a ton of wine and would appreciate the difference between an ordinary corkscrew and something James Bond might use? If you’re really looking to impress someone, or if your recipient happens to be a wine professional, they will certainly love using the Code 38 Wine Key, which brings precision engineering and fantastic modern styling to the simple corkscrew. Extravagant? Yes. Totally swanky? Definitely. The basic model starts at $365, and the most tricked-out Titanium version will run you close to $900. Available from Code 38.

A License to Chill

Like many accessories made specifically for wine lovers, the standard ice bucket can certainly be done without or replaced by much more utilitarian alternatives, such as stock pots, paint buckets, salad bowls, etc. But there are times when you either want to make a statement or times when you want a little more aesthetic pleasure from the things you use. And then there are times when you don’t want to chill just one bottle, but five. So perhaps you want a fancier ice bucket? This beautifully modern “Noe” bucket is brought to you by the mavens of Italian design, Alessi. $436, and available at Amazon.

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Best of luck in your holiday shopping, and remember, a glass or two of wine will make this whole process a lot easier. Happy holidays and happy drinking!!

Disclosures: In case you care, I receive affiliate fees from any Amazon purchases.

Image at top created with MidJourney AI.