‘Tis the season for gift guides and end-of-year lists. I am back, with my third annual guide to the best liquid treats and fun booze-adjacent ideas that can be brought to a party or delivered to someone’s door. I sampled every item on this list. While my palate is not the same as yours, I stand behind my boozy gift ideas for 2024 as delicious and exciting options to offer anyone (of drinking age) on your list.
Boozy Gifts for Anyone On Your List
Riedel Red Laudon Tumbler
Crystal made in Austria is never a bad thing, especially this stunner of a tumbler. It clocks in at 14 ounces (396 grams), the heft giving it a grand feel in your hand. As I was unwrapping the sample, my Swiss husband swooped the glass out of my hand. Within moments, a Manhattan was prepared. Ummmmm…he liked it? Now I have to order another one… $90
Vermouth is an essential ingredient in a Manhattan, a cocktail we make with frequency. I’ve played around with many vermouths and keep coming back to the Italians. This Italian vermouth is made using Nebbiolo in Langhe, in Italy’s Piemonte region. You may notice the gentian and artemisia, classic botanicals for vermouth. I noticed the ginger. I suggest drinking it on the rocks with an orange wheel. It would also be right at home in a Negroni. 750 ml / $40
Cuong Pham, an ex-Apple engineer who launched Red Boat Fish Sauce, is set to take over Napa Valley with his next project: Đồi Đá. Vietnamese for “rocky hill,” Đồi Đá is Pham’s passion project. Open this first vintage made with grapes sourced from Oakville and Rutherford AVAs and take note of the red raspberry aromas. Made by Nova Cadamatre, this inaugural vintage is aged entirely in new French oak. There’s no noticeable vanilla but plenty of tobacco and boastful tannins. We don’t decant a lot of wines around here but if you are planning to drink this soon, have one around, just in case, or lay it down for a while and let those tannins soften. 750 ml / $125
Consider this your invitation to own a limited-edition tequila masterpiece. Inside a stunning gift box of geometric abstraction designed by artists Rolando Flores and Gabriel Cazares awaits a tequila that drinks like a Cognac. I couldn’t stop sipping this, probably because it tastes of toasted almonds, vanilla and cinnamon that finishes with the smoothest tequila bite ever. It’s nice to know that this tequila is how the Jose Cuervo brand honors the Cuervo family’s 200-year tequila legacy. 750 ml / $202.99
The world is definitely not over espresso martinis. And why should they be? It’s a great drink for any time of day and suits any mood. This DIY cocktail kit brings the drink to your living room and includes a full-sized bottle of espresso-flavored vodka and a much smaller bottle of espresso syrup to boost caffeine and sweetness levels. A creamer packet is included, too, but why not just use half and half from the supermarket? The packet is convenient but I liked the drink better with fresh milk. $55
Do you remember the plum wine your parents let you drink as a child when out to dinner at your favorite Chinese restaurant? (I do!) This is not that. Pull the round stopper on the elegant bottle to reveal a plum- and cherry-based liqueur. Tip out some of the vibrantly-hued liquid into a modern Nick and Nora glass (see below) or add a splash to some Prosecco or Champagne for a new take on a Kir Royale. Made in California by Jenn Toyzer and Katy Brandes, Ume changes its hue depending on what it’s mixed with, just like thos unicorn cocktails of the early 2010’s.
$34.99 for 750 ml
Packed with 12 two-ounce bottles of syrups and mixers, this could be the way you celebrate the Twelve Days of Christmas. The included recipe book provides multiple ways to use each elixir. For Oolong Tea & Grapefruit, you can make a Splash of Luck with little more than sparkling wine and Aperol; the Bandito with reposado tequila, lemon and Oloroso sherry; or a non-alcoholic Yangtze River with grapefruit seltzer, lemon and lemon peel. Not every blend suited my palate (no thank you, Fruitcake Syrup) but I love the creativity contained in this cheerful box. 12 two-ounce (30 ml) bottles and recipe booklet / $52.95
These are not your father’s Nick & Nora’s. The wavy optic design is so very chic. The glasses’ tall profile puts them more in line visually with Riedel’s classic wine glasses. It’s a Nick & Nora deserving of a Bond-like nickname. Moneypenny, it’s nice to meet you! Use these glasses to impress your future father-in-law or please that aunt who likes her martini shaken, not stirred. Two glasses / $55
A white wine that you can lay down? Yes. It’s highly allocated, too, so you can’t just place an order on a website – you have to call. Like, with a phone. It’s worth it, though for a Howell Mountain chardonnay, a rare creature, little seen in markets. This region’s higher elevation locale (1,400 ft and above) means it’s typically above the fog line, something you can taste in this chardonnay’s unmistakable minerality. Aromas of pear and citrus pop on the nose but it’s the luxurious mouthfeel, delicate acidity, and long, elegant flavors that will have you wishing you’d ordered more. 750 ml / $130
A blend of 72% Grenache, 14% Syrah and 14% Mourvèdre (a.k.a. GSM), the 2020 Harmonie from Paso Robles’ Clos Solène glows ruby in the glass. As it’s inspired from the Southern Rhônes region of France, I suppose you could compare it to wines from grand estates there such as Châteauneuf-du-pape. But this is an American wine with American swagger and full-bodied character. I love the elderberry aroma that wafts from the wine with each swirl of the glass. On the palate, it’s weighty, beffy even. I’d pair this with a steak or Portobello mushroom with cream sauce or lay it down for 10 years. $98
These flavor-infused sugar cubes should technically be in my Sparklers Gift Guide as they make a delightful addition to Champagne. I trialed Cinnamon Vanilla in my cold brew coffee and loved it! Like Yes Cocktail Co’s Bitters-Infused Cubes I included in last year’s Boozy Gift Guide, these cubes can do more than zhush up booze. Orange Cherry was delicious with iced tea and I liked it with my green tea, too. I mean, it’s sugar, so put a cube next to your morning espresso, if that’s your jam.
1 oz (28 g) / 10 cubes per package / $16
The magic of simple syrup plus an aromatic spice box are combined in this easy-to-use syrup. A bar tender favorite, Spiced Demerara and a dash or two of aromatic bitters are all you need to make an Old Fashioned. A splash of demerara + any aged spirit (rum, tequila, rye = cocktail. You’ll wish you had a bigger bottle.
8 oz (237 ml) / $16.95
Baldacci Vineyard’s 2021 Ruppert Coombsville Cabernet Sauvignon
I am a Coombsville convert, drawn to the soft, approachable tannins and flavors of blueberry and violet that are cabernet sauvignon signatures of Napa’s most southerly AVA. The 2021 is made of grapes sourced entirely from Coombsville but diverts somewhat from the region’s flavor reputation by delivering more red than blue fruit on the palate along with flavors of fig and fennel. The tannins are especially velvety and the finish lingers. You’ll notice its flinty minerality, too. Yum. 750 ml / $150
Lead by 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, the additional Bordeaux varietals (21% Petit Verdot, 12% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc) reveal black currant at first. Give it a minute and the mid-palate gives way to sage and spice box-adjacent chai. With grapes sourced from the Lytton Springs district of Dry Creek Valley, including the iconic Endeavour Vineyard, this wine is one for the ages. I bought another bottle so I can lay it down for a year but you do you. 750 ml / $70
Ceretto Vignaioli di Santo Stefano 2023 Moscato d’Asti DOCG
Santo Stefano Belbo, a small town in the Langhe in Italy’s Piemonte region, is known for moscato (muscat) wines. I’m partial to moscato as a dessert wine not only because of its low ABV (5.5% in this case) but its elegant flavor that matches with nearly every dessert. Softly sparkling, Ceretto’s offering this year is pale yellow and smooth, as easily enjoyed as an aperitif as a digestif. My Mom loved it with chocolate chip cookies. Your low-ABV friends will thank you.
375 ml / $20
While the good folks at Sausalito’s Unsinkable would like us all to try a Chocolate Martini, I’m down to swirl it into hot chocolate and turn it into something more like choco-nog (sorry). But a good liqueur has its place in the after-dinner cannon, when you need something sweet but can’t eat another thing. Then, this is your go-to.
750 ml / $33.99
I don’t know much about South African wines but the Capensis brand is dedicated entirely to chardonnay. Proprietor Barbara Banke carries the same title for Sonoma’s Jackson Family Wines. An intense focus on chardonnay on the 12 hectares of the Western Cape estate paired with the biodiverse approach to farming the Jackson Family is known for yields expressive wines. Capensis is designed to age, but if you drink it now, you’ll be rewarded with vibrant tangerine zest, plentiful minerality, and a hint of toasted brioche on the finish. 750 ml / $80
One of the oldest wineries in the heart of the Napa Valley, Beringer is a well-known brand but not at this price point. Here’s why: this wine expresses classic Napa cab flavors – blueberry on the nose – plus plenty of vanilla from its 20 months resting in new French oak barrels (65%). Aromas of tobacco and leather and balanced acidity hit the mid-palate and there’s a hint of graphite on the finish. It’s an intense wine, approachable to drink now to honor the season. The insider intel is to age it at least eight years or as many as 20. $175
