Christmas is coming and along with it the usual array of seasonal packaging by leading wine labels. As it’s almost December here are few gift ideas for the wine lovers that have caught my eye and a shameless plug for my books as stocking fillers.

Champagne always seems to lead the way in seasonal packaging; they are particularly good at marketing. The Taittinger Prestige Rosé in its lovely shiny box below wouldn’t even need wrapping or how about a bling start to Christmas with six golden glasses, champagne bucket and bottle stopper to accompany a magnum of Moët & Chandon Impérial Brut Bright Night? 

A more innovative approach to bling is the new special edition of Eto. This new concept has been on the market for just two years. After the stainless steel and copper versions, they have launched a new gold finish just in time for Christmas. 

Eto is an original decanter, although it does have a very cool design, it’s not just a pretty face; it also protects any left over wine from oxygen. Think a sophisticated coffee plunger for wine lovers.

Inspired by wine tasting friends trying to keep wine remains away from oxygen after just a glass, Tom Cotton designed a concept smart enough to stay on the dinner table that also helped preserve the wine. After six years, 60 prototypes and a successful crowd funding campaign, Tom’s final design is beautiful, preserves wine brilliantly. Decant your wine, serve a glass, or two, and then push down on the neck, creating a seal, preventing from any further contact with oxygen, keeping the wine fresh for up to two weeks. 

Bordeaux has some gift ideas too. Red wine and chocolate is one of my favourite combinations, not just for Christmas. Château Kirwan had the brilliant idea of creating a Christmas box with local, and very talented, chocolate maker Haasnâ Ferreira. They paired the 2016 vintage of Chateau Kirwan with a 72% Cocoa Piura Blanco Peruvian chocolate – a match made in heaven! 

Also in Margaux, neighbouring Chateau Marquis de Terme has created a unique Christmas combination, a bottle of their 2006 first wine with rum from the same vintage. From the French Island of La Martinique, the 36-month aged rum was finished for 10 months in barrels that previously held wine from the Grand Cru Classé. Hurry while stocks of the special gift box last they have only produced a limited edition of 50. 

Instead of wine give the gift of a wine experience. A wine tour is a gift you could share with the recipient – I love those kinds of presents!  Pop an envelope under the Christmas tree and you and your guest can wait until the warmer weather to redeem the gift that keeps on giving all year. Take a look at the web sites of some of the partners I work with, Decanter Tours offers both private and small group day tours. French Wine Explorers offers group and private tours and Wine Paths allows you to create your own programme directly with wineries and distilleries in over a dozen countries.

Hotel-restaurant Chateau Cordeillan Bages in Pauillac also offers gift vouchers for everything from Michelin star meals to tasting experiences. 

Or come and visit Bordeaux for the festive season, the city centre has its own Christmas market and some wine properties offer special seasonal visits. Cru Bourgeois Château Lamothe Bergeron, in the Haut Médoc, invites guests on anentertaining and interactive visit.  Starting in the living room of the beautifully restored 19th century château, they take you around the park and into the cellars for a unique animated explanation of the wine. From 5th December to 5th January you can try a surprising wine and food pairing: three vintages of the Château Lamothe Bergeron with three Christmas themed macaroons, foie gras and chocolate, red pepper and chilli, (the regional chilli from Espelette) and dark cherry.  

Christmas is often about the younger members of the family, just because they are too young to drink doesn’t mean they can’t join their parents on a wine tour. At Chateau de Reignac ‘Once Upon A Time On The Planet’ is a visit designed for children and their parents discover the world of wine making together. The visit explains the importance of the natural environment, looking at the animals and insects that live in the vineyard. Children are encouraged to use all their senses: closing their eyes to ‘hear’ nature in a tepee in the garden, using their sense of smell in the aroma garden, their sense of touch with feathers and tree bark in the Gustave Eiffel greenhouse and tasting in the dovecote. While adults taste the wine of the property, the children will learn how to identify the differences of sweet, salt, acid and bitterness. 

Books are a perfect Christmas gift, and again children can join the fun with The Golden Dolphin. Written by my husband Hamilton for our granddaughter, this lovely fable imagines a story behind the Golden Dolphin that graced the wine label of our family vineyard. My book The Drinking Woman’s Diet is a perfect stocking filler for wine loving girlfriends who also want to look after their liver, including some useful tips to survive the festive season.

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Finally Bordeaux Bootcamp, remains a guide to Bordeaux basics to help your guests better understand and appreciate that bottle of Bordeaux you have chosen to serve with the turkey or perhaps even help prepare that upcoming Bordeaux wine tour.

Happy Christmas and hope to see you in 2020.