By Robyn James, Proprietor

The Wine Cellar & Tasting Room

241 A N.E. Broad St.

Downtown Southern Pines

winecellar@pinehurst.net

With the popularity of wine consumption ever rising, it’s a sure bet there are more than a few people on your Christmas list that enjoy wine.

Wine is the perfect gift, one that disappears and is always welcome, year after year.

You can choose a special, rare wine for that family member who is a collector or buy a case of quality, inexpensive selections, gift bagged to hand out to the office staff and neighbors.

This year, the market is full of fascinating wine accessories that make interesting gifts and stocking stuffers.  There is a huge array of cork pullers available now, particularly for those who may have difficulty getting those tight corks out of bottles.  The Rabbit Cork Lever is enormously popular.  It really does look like a silver head, with two clamps that surround the top of the bottle ensuring that the “worm” will be perfectly centered over the cork.  Push the rubber covered lever down and it slams an extractor into the cork.  Pull it back up and the cork comes out easily.  This is a wonderful invention that works great on fairly new bottles.  It has been my experience that on older vintages (10-20 years old), the cork may be a little too old and weak to grab back out.  The Rabbit retails around $60.

Another interesting cork extractor is the Cork Pop.  This is great for folks with a weak grip.  The Cork Pop looks almost like a hypodermic needle.  It has a tiny little propane unit attached to it.  Push the needle into the cork, press the button to release the propane and the cork really pops right out!  Retailing for about $15, including your first propane unit, this is a neat extractor.  The only drawback would be that you do have to continue to purchase additional propane as needed, but each unit promises opening fifty bottles and the refills are readily available.

Wine Journals and Label Off are nice gifts for those who like to keep records of what they drank and liked.  Most of the journals I found were overly fancy and too pricey for what they were.  We finally discovered a great journal for $10 that does it all.  Sections for your notes and pages to paste in the labels of wines you liked.  That’s where Label Off comes in.  Super strong tape that covers the label and allows you to lift it off the bottle and paste it directly into your journal.  These are about $7 for ten units.

Older wines or Ports can throw sediment into the bottle as they age and need to be decanted before drinking.  Decanting can be a messy and tedious process, and you can lose a fair amount of wine in the process.  I found two really great wine filters.  For about $13 you can purchase a really pretty stainless steel funnel that with a removable stainless filter that will fit over your decanter and filter your bottle as you pour.  Or, a more casual look is the little plastic Wine Filter.  About the size of a finger, this little screened unit fits into the bottle so you don’t have to decant as all.  It filters the wine as you pour directly into your glass and has a built in stopper in case you don’t finish the bottle.  This cool little invention is only about $5.

Tired of watching your sister nearly amputate her hand using a knife to get the capsule off the bottle?  Throw a Foil cutter in her stocking.  A half round of plastic with built in blades that fit neatly over the bottle and safely away from you.  Another great deal for about $4.

Have a friend who complains that they can’t finish their wine before it fades?  Wine preserving gifts are really popular now.  The Vacu Vin and Private Preserve are perfect for them.  The Vacu Vin, about $13, has two rubber stoppers with a tiny little slit in the top.  Put the stopper in the bottle and fit the pump over it.  Pump away until you have so much resistance you can’t pump anymore.  All the oxygen is pumped out and your bottle should stay fresh for days.  (They say weeks, but I question that.)  Private Preserve, about $8, comes in a can with a tiny straw resembling a WD 40 can.  The can is lighter than air because it contains Nitrogen, the perfect gas for preserving wine. Hold your cork or stopper close to the opening of the bottle, spray the nitrogen in and quickly reseal your bottle.  It will taste brand new up to a week.  Like the Cork Pop, the only drawback here is that it is disposable and will have to be replaced when it runs out, but they advertise the can will last for uses.

Glassware is a good choice also.  We like the Vinea series, taste enhancing glassware resembling the snooty Riedel line, but less expensive, around $9 a stem and sturdier than Riedel, able to load in the bottom of your dishwasher.  Prodyne makes some top quality clear acrylic glasses that I love for poolside, patio, boats and traveling.  For about $5, they are hardy and attractive.  I don’t care for colored glassware; I like to see the color of my wine in the glass.  Pack them in the suitcase so you don’t have to drink your wine out the hotel Styrofoam.

For those who want to give the gift of grape, here are a few suggestions for the holidays: