How To Make A Wine Gift Basket: DIY Ideas
With the dawn of the holidays looming just over the horizon, gifts are an inescapable concern on everyone’s mind. What do I get ? It’s easy to drive yourself a little crazy and miss the true essence of the season. Giving. Togetherness. Family, whether that means the one you’re born to, the one you choose, or both.
We’re here to help. Wine makes a great gift on its own. What’s better than something the receiver can choose to keep for themselves or share with others for a good time? But, for those who like to go the extra mile for those who do the same for them, a wine gift basket is even better.
If this is the first time you’ve considered putting together a wine gift basket, you may be a tad perplexed. What do you include? How do you present it? Allow me to remind you— we’re here to help.
Let’s take a look at some of the key components of a wine gift basket and how to put it all together to create a gift your loved one will never forget.
Everything You’ll Need For a Wine Gift Basket
In terms of putting together your own DIY wine basket, it’s easy for this part to slip your mind. The container for all the wine-based goodies itself is actually important. Let’s break down what makes the right basket to give someone else as a gift.
Normally, when giving a gift, the first thing you think of is the receiver’s interests. You try to get them something personal and meaningful. I don’t know about you, but I don’t have many friends who are raving mad over baskets. But there is another important factor that comes up just short of the receiver’s interests— utility.
You don’t want to give someone a gift they are going to have no use for. We’ve all gotten these before. You know, the vases or lamps that pile up collecting dust in your attic until inevitably you give them away to someone else?
You don’t ever want to be the one that gives a gift like that. So how do we avoid that with a basket?
For one, don’t get a themed basket. Anything tied to a particular holiday instantly becomes unusable at other times of the year. Even just a paint color can reduce the versatility of your basket.
Get your loved one a nice neutral, wood-colored basket that they can reuse throughout the year. It’s also best to get one with handles on the side. Side-handled baskets are much easier to reuse as containers or decorations after the contents have all been used.
Stick to these precedents, and your loved one will be able to reuse the basket you give them for whatever purpose they need!
Best Wine for a Gift Basket
Here it is, the star of the show. This is actually the most self-explanatory part. All you need to know is what type of wine your loved one enjoys.
Get them a full 1.5-liter bottle. Place it center-stage in your basket, and you’ll be good to go. If you’re not sure, ask a mutual friend. Someone in your circle will know what to get them, and it will be all the more meaningful that you took the time to find out.
Pro tip: See if your loved one likes any particular dessert wine, such as riesling. The holidays see more dessert foods consumed than almost any other time of the year. Gifting your friend a dessert wine is an open suggestion for them to kick back and enjoy the more savory things in life, without the work of having to get the wine themselves.
Shooters
Here’s where things take a more creative turn. If you’ve followed this guide so far, you already have a decent idea of what kind of wine your loved one enjoys. The inclusion of wine shooters in their gift basket is a great way to help them branch out and find a new favorite for their repertoire!
Shooters are small samples of wine. Fill your DIY basket with samples closely related to your loved one’s preferred wine. If you’ve already added a bottle of white zinfandel front and center, consider a rosé as a shooter.
Maybe toss in a few sweeter wine varieties. If your loved one likes dry wine, find some off-dry shooters. Pick wines that are close but not exactly like the main bottle in the basket.
Food And Snacks
This part requires a touch of research, but it’s well worth it. Adding food and snacks that pair well with the wine in your basket elevates the gift to the next level. Now you’ve not only provided your loved one with an excuse to drink but an entire well-coordinated meal.
Including a thing or two that you know they like to eat isn’t a bad idea. However, the focus here should be maintained on pairings.
The whole idea of a wine gift basket, instead of giving a single bottle, is to encourage your loved one to try something new. Whatever wine bottle and shooters you end up with, try to pick a food or snack that goes well with each. A good example of this would be sauvignon blanc, accompanied by a sour cheese, like goat cheese.
Tailored combinations like these are only a google search away. Make sure you do a little research on the wine you choose before adding food to your basket.
The Final Touches
So, you’ve got your loved one’s wine in the basket. You peppered the setup with some thoughtful shooters. You’ve even found the right foods to accompany them. Your basket has already come a long way, and it’s close to being perfect.
These few last-minute additions will take that basket to the absolute height of holiday gift-giving.
A wine glass is a great addition to any wine-based gift basket. Try to get the person a type they don’t already have. If you’ve seen their fine china collection and noticed a necked glass is missing, or a shallow one, spring for that.
Probably the most essential item in this section— prepare a pairing guide for the items in your basket. You’ve chosen each component of this gift very carefully, personalized to the tastes of your loved one.
Don’t blow it by leaving them to do the research on how best to eat and drink it. A small note card will suffice, with the names of the foods on one side, the wines on the other, and lines connecting the ones that pair well.
Feel free to garnish your basket with holiday-themed decorations that can be disposed of. Hang some snowy garland. Add pom-poms or holiday-colored confetti. This makes the basket more festive, fills out gaps, and can ultimately be discarded, so the basket is still useful after the season has passed.
Wine is a good gift. A wine basket is a great gift. A wine basket personalized by someone who took the time to get to know you is an amazing gift that sends a powerful message. Take your gift-giving to the next level this upcoming season by assembling a DIY wine basket based on the interests of your loved one.
