© by Nigel Lelew • This Month Hi Ellie ... it's time to talk wine again ... and this month I'm going to combine it with some ideas for Christmas presents. There's loads of ideas for presents which have a wine theme ... so if you're ready ... ! • Christmas Presents So ... here's the bad news ... there's only 34 more days until it's Christmas. And if you're anything like me, then you haven't even begun to think about what to get people yet. So I thought that I'd give you a few ideas to get you started ... and get me thinking as well to be perfectly honest! ... and they're all around the theme of wine ... as you'd expect! So giving someone a bottle at Christmas is always welcome ... but it can be a bit of a lottery and the shape of the parcel is a kind of giveaway isn't it ... so I've brought in few non-liquid ideas for gifts ... and then in the tasting there's a couple of great ideas for the liquid kind of presents , but I've tried to make them something a little special and I hope I've succeeded ... so here we go! Ok, so the first idea I have here ... Its going to test your imaginative skills to the full ... it's a bit tricky on radio! How would you describe this ... it's a sort of bottle holder with a difference ... and its certainly going to be a bit of a talking point. They come in all sorts of shapes and sizes, but the principle is the same for all of them. Just picture, if you will, a thick clear piece of perspex about 9 inches long and a few inches wide with a slotted hole in it. Now, the ends are chamfered so that when you put it on a flat surface it leans and falls over ... sounds good so far! ... but, hold it at an angle and put the neck of a wine bottle horizontally in the hole and ... hey presto, the whole thing stands up and holds the bottle out sort of sideways above the table. And the effect is like magic! ... It literally defies gravity ... it's great isn't it! OK for the rest, you won't need to exercise the grey matter too much ... they're easier to picture!. What about a board game for those long winter evenings. There's a few around ... this one is called Quaffers and basically each player runs a vineyard, tries to bankrupt his neighbours, ... and a great excuse to have a few drinks as well ... so it's a bit like Monopoly for wine lovers crossed with a few bottles of wine and some competitive spirit! OK so there's a whole host of decanters and glasses and corkscrews and wineracks and drip stops and ... well you name it and you can get it and there's something out there to suit every pocket too. But what about dad or granddad who only has boring old socks or a tie on his Christmas list. Well never fear, there's ties and socks to fit the bill, with wine motifs galore ... now whether he'll actually wear them or not is another question ... but at least you can try and be original ... that's as original as socks and ties will let you be! But what about something that will last the whole year ... maybe a subscription to a wine magazine perhaps ... something like Decanter or WINE, then whenever the magazine comes through the door, it'll remind him or her of you ... and will be something to look forward to for the whole year ... and if you take out a subscription now you'll get a free gift thrown in as well ... so that's something you can wrap up and put under the tree as well ... or you could even keep it yourself ... maybe that's not in the spirit of Christmas though. I could go on, with suggestions like renting a row of vines in some foreign vineyard or maybe even buying a couple of vines and giving those ... you never know it may tempt to throw the towel in here and buy a vineyard abroad somewhere in the sun ... starts to sound appealing! I'll leave you with one last idea ... and something a bit more practical than a vineyard ... and less expensive too ... a wine sleeve ... you've seen me bring mine in Ellie, wrapped round a bottle of white. They're the silver coloured sleeves filled with some kind of gel ... you keep it in the freezer and when you've forgotten to put the white wine in the fridge ... stick the jacket over the bottle and its chilled ... it really does work ... and if they've already got one, try buying the bigger ones for champagne bottles ... perfect for the Millennium!
I hope that's given a bit of inspiration, and if you want to give a bottle this Christmas, I'll be back in a minute to taste a couple of bottles with a difference ... bottles you can give as presents. So I've brought in a couple of wines with the thought of giving them as Christmas presents. They're a little bit out of the ordinary as we'll see. The first one we're going to pop the cork on is a Champagne ... it's a great excuse isn't it! ... and not just any Champagne its Premier Cru, but before we do let me tell you why I've brought this one along. Yes its great to get a bottle of Champers at Christmas, but this has another twist. Buy 6 or more and you can personalise the label ... you can have your own special label with a picture and a few words on this bottle ... isn't that good! OK so this is Jean-Louis Malard Premier Cru Champagne ... let's take a look.. • Colour It's a pale straw colour with a small mousse ... • Aroma Give the glass a swirl and release the aroma and then get the nose in ... there's a definate wonderful fruity aroma in there, with a hint of toasted almonds maybe ... • Taste OK let's take a glug ... the mouth is filled with that mousse ... there's a fresh citrussy flavour, full of crispness ... and then a brilliantly long clean finish ... that's a tremendous Champagne ... just think about the enjoyment someone will get from receiving this bottle with a personalised label ... and a great champagne inside ... I think that's a brilliant idea ... so its Jean-Louis Malard Premier Cru Champagne from Threshers Wine Shops, Wine Rack and Victoria Wine at £17.49 a bottle. OK, so now we move on to the red wine this morning ... and with a Christmas gift theme this morning its actually a port ... but not any old Port ... its actually a magnum of Port, so that's two bottles in one ... doesn't it look magnificent! It's Waitrose 1994 Late Bottled Vintage Port ... are you a port drinker Ellie?! ... lets take a look at this one ... • Colour Pour this into the glass and just look at the density and depth of colour ... doesn't that look just great ... • Aroma OK lets swirl the glass and get the nose in ... mmmmm ... Port always reminds me of toffee apples ... but amongst the caramel there's also soft green peppers and some fruit too ... • Taste So now lets take a glug ... wonderfully rounded warm feeling from this one ... the deep red fruit comes through first and then that slight sweetness, that comes with port, ... through to a really long warm finish ... you can put that one in my stocking any time! That's Waitrose 1994 Late Bottled Vintage Port and it's the limited Millennium edition in a Magnum ... from Waitrose at £19.99 ... and remember that's 1.5 litres, twice the normal bottle. • Next Month Next month Ellie, I'm gong to be trying wines and fizz for what's billed as the biggest party of our lifetime ... Millennium Eve ... so if you haven't got your invite to the Dome yet, don't worry, I'll bring in a few bottles to see you through to the year 2000 with a bang not a whimper!
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