Wine reviewer Mark Henderson shares a few gift ideas for the festive season.
What do you give the wine lover who has everything?
Answer: Penicillin!
Seriously though, gift-giving can be fraught for many.
What does the recipient like to drink?
White, red, bubbles?
Local, or overseas?
Expensive, or cheap?
Perhaps a book instead?
While wine lovers naturally enjoy drinking the stuff, many also like to delve further into what they are drinking and there are many good wine books on the market to further their knowledge.
Or Central Otago pinot is always a fine Christmas choice.
Price: $20
Rating: Good
Bright and juicy on the nose, cherries, some charry oak.
Wild herbs and dark cherry fruit with noticeable toasty oak: raspberry comes with aeration with a touch of sour cherry on the finish.
Rounded, accessible and easy drinking.
Price: $28
Rating: Very good to excellent
Darker fruits with plum and cherry, a whisper of tamarillo.
Sweeter fruit on the palate with spice and dark cherry to the fore and nicely integrated oak seasoning.
Good concentration and freshness with nicely judged tannin and acid to balance.
Lovely youthful drinking but potential too. Excellent value.
Price: $45
Rating: Excellent
Perfumed nose with notes of cherry, red fruits, rose petal and spice.
Silky entry; really textural and lovely in the mouth.
Some dried herbs and a touch of oak on the palate with a raspberry undercurrent.
Lovely depth and concentration.
Seamless.
An exercise in balance.
Books for wine buffs
THE LITTLE BLACK BOOK OF WINE:
AN INSIDER'S GUIDE
Joelle Thomson
New Holland
Joelle Thomson's book would be a great starting point for the budding wine lover.
In essence a ‘‘how to'' guide, it starts with a glossary of wine words, explores the makeup of wine and offers tips for getting the most out of it.
It covers how and where to buy it, with a roundup of grape varieties by selected tasting notes and suggestions for further exploration, along with advice on cellaring and glassware.
Bright and fresh to read; good bedside table stuff.
NEW ZEALAND WINES 2016
Michael Cooper's Buying Guide
Upstart Press
Michael Cooper's annual guide begins with an overview of the 2015 vintage followed by a ‘‘Best Buys'' section and a roundup of his ‘‘Classic'' wines made up of Super Classics, Classics and Potential Classics.
The meat of this sizeable book, nearly 600 pages, is his tasting note section ordered by grape variety.
Each wine gets a sweetness rating and is rated out of five stars, as is the current release along with back vintage ratings for many notable wines.
An exhaustive guide to New Zealand's wines and an essential reference tool.
WINE A-Z
Oz Clarke
Pavilion Books
English wine writer Oz Clarke's A-Z guide covers the world's wine regions with its alphabetical entries covering wine terms, grape varieties, countries, wine regions, noteworthy wineries and more.
Each of the major grape varieties is covered by a small essay, while top producers around the world are also listed. Each country also receives a write-up, with notable producers getting a larger mention.
There is a handy food and wine matching section at the end.
A good overview for someone wishing to broaden their knowledge.
