Special Wines for Special People

If most wine lovers are like me, they really aren’t looking for clever wine-related gadgets to offer as holiday gifts. They are looking for wine—and the more the merrier.

Following are suggestions to help you decide what to buy for that special wine person regardless of your own level of expertise.

If you know exactly what the person likes you can play it safe and stick to that or you can introduce them to something new in a similar style, but from a different part of the world.

Here are examples using five common grape varieties:

They like Chardonnay from Napa Valley California: Try something from Burgundy, France (Pouilly-Fuissé, Pugliny-Montrachet, Chassagne-Montrachet, Mersault), Walker Bay, South Africa, Margaret River or Hunter Valley in Australia or the Casablanca Valley in Chile.

They like Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand: Check out the Loire Valley in France (Pouilly- Fumé, Sancerre, Touraine, Menetou-Salon) or try Stellenbosch in South Africa, Napa Valley in California, Casablanca Valley in Chile, or the Collio, Friuli, and Alto Adige regions of Italy.

They like German Riesling: Introduce them to a variety of different styles like those from the Clare Valley in Australia, Wachau in Austria, the Sierra Foothills of California, the Finger Lakes region of New York State, Alsace, France, Washington State, and Oregon.

They only drink California Cabernet Sauvignon: Go farther north and get them something from the Yakima or Columbia valleys in Washington State. Or go to another part of the world entirely like Bordeaux, France (look for wines from the Médoc and Graves), the Margaret River, Yarra, Clare, or Barrossa valleys in Australia, Maipo Valley in Chile, or Stellenbosch, South Africa.

Pinot Noir from Oregon is their go-to wine: Explore Burgundy (ask for wines from the Côtes de Nuits appellations) and elsewhere in France (red Sancerre, Menetou-Salon, and Alsace), or try the Baden region of Germany (they call it Spätburgunder here), or Italian Pinot Nero from Piedmont. Or you could look for something from Monterey, Santa Barbara, or Sonoma counties in California, or Central Otago, Martinborough, or Marlboro in New Zealand.

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