To make a wine gift basket extra special and to provide a personalized touch, one can opt for a custom wine gift basket. A custom wine gift basket allows the person who is gifting to choose the contents of the baskets keeping in mind the preferences of the person for whom the gift basket is intended. People can also gift wines with their own personalized wine label on the bottle to make it a memorable gift that will be treasured for a long time.
Custom wine gift baskets are the perfect gifts for wine lovers as they may also include wine glasses, decanters and mini wine cellars. These gift baskets are very popular gifts as they offer the presenter various options of wines, accessories and accompaniments which best suit their budget. Even though they are slightly more expensive than the packaged wine gift baskets, they are gifts that will surely be appreciated by the recipient.
One of the biggest advantages of having a custom wine gift basket is that one gets to choose individual bottles, boxed wine sets, or custom wine gift baskets from their favorite vineyards, and then add a special touch by adding their own little personalized gifts which maybe anything from chocolates to cheese.
Custom wine gift baskets with an assortment of the finest wines along with small knick-knacks are gifts that enliven any celebration. These gift baskets are the perfect gifts for birthdays, anniversaries and weddings. These baskets help in multiplying the festivities of the holiday season as well. They are equally delightful gifts for occasions such as Thanksgiving, Christmas or for that matter even Valentine's Day. Custom wine gift baskets bring a lot of happiness and joy to not just to the receiver of the gift but also the presenter.
Wine Gift Baskets provides detailed information on Wine Gift Baskets, Wine Country Gift Baskets, Wine and Cheese Gift Baskets, Custom Wine Gift Baskets and more. Wine Gift Baskets is affiliated with Wine Related Gifts [http://www.i-WineGifts.com].
When it comes to relaxation and romance, wine and picnics are a great combination. In fact, there are wine packages built just for just an occasion.
Vino and Picnics
There are many ways to enjoy a romantic dinner with your mate. Selecting a favorite restaurant, ordering your favorite luxurious entree and a perfect bottle of wine can be a great way to spend some time with the one you love. But, what if you'd rather have some space and not be out in public? An intimate night (or day) spent in the great outdoors (or even on your living room floor) can be just as perfect as a great meal at an expensive restaurant.
Wine picnic baskets are perfect for putting together that special meal. Not only are they great to give as a gift, and a good way to get your food and beverage from one place to another, you also get to keep the basket for later use! This sort of picnic basket can even come direct to your door fully stocked with a bottle or two of wine and an assortment of special foods - like cheeses and other wine accompaniments, so that all the guesswork is taken out of your picnic.
There are also different styles of wine picnic baskets to choose from. Some of these packs are more like backpacks, made of cloth and insulated so that you can stash your favorite food goodies along with a perfectly chilled bottle of white wine in an easy to carry bag. Include your favorite stemware (or use the provided stemware, many packs come with plastic or glassware). These backpack coolers are also available in sizes that are practical for larger groups, such as a family of four, for those times when you want the whole family to enjoy your picnic.
Of course, when you think of picnic basket, most people think of the woven wooden type. There are also many different styles of traditional wine picnic baskets available. These sets can even include dinnerware, such as plates and silverware, along with a place to put your chilled wine and foodstuffs. Some include wine implements, such as corkscrews, to make your job even easier.
You needn't go to a restaurant to have a perfect romantic date. Sometimes, just sitting on the floor with a blanket spread out and a picnic basket with wine and your favorite foods is all you need to make a special night for the both of you.
Xavier Moldini is with WineriesforYou.com - a directory of wineries.
"White wine with white meat" is still the mantra of the wine world but your personal preference should dictate. White wines, yellow, golden or straw-like in color, are derived from an assortment of grape varietals of green, gold or yellowish-colored grapes, or from just the juice (not the skin) of select red grapes. White wines tend to be more refreshing and lighter in character and taste than red wine vintages, making them ideal selections for spring and summer occasions. White wines are often preferred with lighter meals such as lunch, smaller lighter dinners, and appetizers, or as aperitifs, with optimum serving temperatures at 45-50 degrees Fahrenheit.
White wines are best served in narrower glasses that allow for better aroma concentration of more delicate varietals. A variety of taste descriptors apply to white wine, such as citrus, apple, pear, grapefruit, lemon, lime, pineapple, melon, butter, honey, flora, herb, earthy, along with light oak vanilla, sweet wood coconut, as well as heavier oak, smoke, toast.
Chardonnay is the most prominent of the white wine varietals, unmistakable in the mouth because of its excellent sugar/acid balance, its full body, and its easy smoothness. Chardonnay's intrinsic blank canvas quality allows its flavors to be dramatically affected by soil, climate, vineyard practices, and winemaking techniques that produce wide variances in the Chardonnay flavor profile. The Chardonnay aroma is distinct, yet delicate, often smells like apricots, apples, lemons, peaches, or tropical fruits such as pineapple, banana, mango, guava, kiwi. Chardonnay is the major varietal used in quality sparkling wines and French Champagne. Chardonnay is the only grape permitted in the Chablis region of France. Chablis is described as flinty, mineral or "steely", versus the Meursault appellation (one of the relatively few Burgundy villages that produces almost entirely white wine) where Chardonnay is described as having a lush, ripe, "fleshy", "buttery" quality. California Chardonnay is every bit as variable with exciting taste quality it develops there. Chardonnay has also been a successful grape in Australia, sometimes misnamed there "pinot chardonnay". Chardonnay is most commonly paired with roast chicken and other white meats such as turkey. Heavily oak influenced Chardonnays do not pair well with more delicate fish; they pair better with smoked fish, spicy Southeast Asian cuisine, garlic and guacamole. More mellow Chardonnays pair with earthy dishes like mushroom soup and aged cheese.
Sauvignon Blanc, one of the first fine wines to be bottled with a screwcap in commercial quantities, is usually consumed young, not particularly benefiting from aging. It's quite distinctive, often sharp, aggressive smell is described as grass, bell-pepper, grapefruit, lime, or melon in nature. Blending Sauvignon Blanc with Semillon is a common practice to add richness and an extra element of figs to the aroma, softening the Sauvignon Blanc's naturally high acidity character. Sauvignon Blanc is always crisp, tangy, tart, and zesty in character. This character pervades in even sweet and dessert versions, preventing them from being cloying and sticky-tasting. Sauvignon Blanc is thus able to accompany the greatest variety of foods. It pairs well with sushi, fish, and fresh goat cheese.
Riesling, cultivated since the 1400s or earlier, is usually included in the top three white wine varieties together with Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc. Riesling is distinctively floral and exhibits apple, pear, peach, apricot-like aromas that frequently mix in mineral elements reflecting the individuality of its terroir (a group of vineyards or even vines from the same region). Riesling is often consumed when young. Riesling may have aromas of green or other apples, grapefruit, peach, honey, rose blossom or cut green grass. Riesling possesses a high natural level of tartaric acid enabling it to balance high levels of residual sugar. Riesling makes dry, semi-sweet, sweet and sparkling white wines which pair well with white fish or pork. It is one of the few wines with taste that can stand up to Thai and Chinese cuisine.
Gewürztraminer is more pungent and full-bodied than most any other white wine with a heady, aromatic scent of roses, passion fruit, floral notes and exotic lychee-nut flavor with at times a heavy, oily texture and a slight tendency to bitterness that can be overwhelming and tiring to some. Gewürztraminer grapes produce wines colored from light to dark golden yellow with a copper tone, depending on the fruit's ripeness. Gewürztraminer can be made into an excellent dessert wine. Gewürztraminer pairs well with Asian cuisine, and enjoys good company with Munster cheese, smoked salmon and fleshy, fatty (oily) wild game.
Pinot Gris/Pinot Grigio can be clear in color to a light gold and can be dry or attain a high level of sweetness and even age well. It is a medium bodied wine with fresh aromas and flavors suggestive of melon and apples, refreshed by cleansing acidity. It is a wine that is usually delicately fragrant and mildly floral along with hints of almond and smoke. Pair with pasta, chicken and fish.
Semillon is the majority white variety in Bordeaux regions of Graves, Entre de Mers and Sauternes, and makes up the majority of the blend in the most expensive and famous dessert wines in the world. Semillon wine can be produced both as a dry and a sweet. It is full of crisp citrus flavors with a touch of fresh herbs. It is full flavored, rich, aromatic, soft, subtle, and a rich counter balance to the Sauvignon Blanc, which can be aromatically aggressive and acidic. Semillon works well when blended with Chardonnay, providing weight and richness.
Viognier is full-bodied like an oaky Chardonnay, with a much more distinctive fruit character. Viognier possesses a rich and complex floral aroma that often conjures up reflections of overripe apricots mixed with orange blossoms, along with a distinctive and sweet aroma-flavor profile as Gewürztraminer. Viognier is usually made in a dry style and seems to appeal more to the typical Chardonnay drinker since both share tropical fruit flavors and a creamy mouth feel. Aromatic and fruit forward by nature of the grape, Viognier pairs well with spicy foods such as Thai and Vietnamese cuisine, and with shellfish, such as Dungeness crab.
Chenin Blanc provides a fairly neutral palate for the expression of terroir, with typically a floral, honeyed character, along with zesty acidity, as sensory trademarks of well-made Chenin Blanc. Considered the most versatile of all wine grape varieties, fragrant and lightly sweet and crisp, it can be used to make everything -- light sparkling wines, dry table wines, nectar-like dessert wines (where the grapes can be left on the vines to develop noble rot, producing an intense, viscous dessert wine that will improve considerably with age), and even brandy are all produced in various areas of the wine world.
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