At this time of gift giving, a bottle of wine undoubtedly makes an excellent present. Why? Well, when giving wine you are giving much more than a bottle. You are offering an experience which is even more enjoyable when it is shared with friends.

Now, when the moment comes, the great question arises: Which wine shall I buy? Are expensive wines necessarily better? Which vintage? Let’s go step by step.

1. Price. There is no need to give an expensive wine. Firstly, higher price doesn’t necessarily mean higher quality. Secondly, some excellent Spanish wines are an unbeatable good value for money. If you think you leave a better impression when giving an expensive wine, go ahead. Nevertheless, take into account that you can adapt your budget and, however modest, still give a great wine.

2. Adapt yourself to the receiver’s taste. In line with the above… You may want to offer a certain expensive wine after reading or learning that it is an excellent wine. You end up spending a lot of money… and it may turn out that they are not great fans of that grape variety. Or they like fruity wines and the one you got is not. Therefore, it is essential to have some information about their tastes as well as their personality.

3. Choose the right vintage. Depending on the vintage year, a wine may be good or extraordinary. Some vintages are particularly interesting. The Spanish institution in charge of regulating denominations of origin publishes a chart with the quality of each vintage year for every denomination; it may be useful as a guide.

4. Wine guides. Now that it is mentioned… there are several in the market and they may come in handy to pick the perfect wine to give as a gift. Guía Repsol, Parker and Guía Peñín are among the most complete. You can also find good advice at some specialized Internet forums.

5. Special wine cases. At specialized shops you will find a good amount of wine cases already gift wrapped. Moreover, if you are not an expert, you will receive the best advice from their sommeliers; they may even give you some tips about food and wine pairing. Another good option is giving a Magnum bottle (1.5 litres). However, not every wine is available in that bottle size. 

So, after reading these tips… which of our wines are you giving this Christmas?