The Wine Press: Get in the holiday spirit with these gifts

The lights outside Azkuna Zentroa Cultural Center shimmer, outshining even the confusing traffic and pedestrian light displays along the Alameda Recalde.

It’s the holiday season in Basque country, and the Spanish dress like they’re partying down Madison Avenue. The Plaza de Moyüa is ringed with tiny evergreens in flashing purple. Locals and tourists bump shopping bags. Though I am far from Kansas City, I can feel the rush of the holiday.

I am already late to my shopping, I know. I’ll return to the U.S., and I’ll be handed a list, well thought out by my wife, who is far better at these things. I wish I could take the easy way out: simply collect bottles of wine from the basement and hand them out, like Santa with a big bag of Bordeaux and Burgundy.

But, as my long-suffering wife insists, that would admit a grave lack of imagination, even a lack of respect. I know (because my wife tells me so) that gifts are to be considered deeply and chosen carefully, bearing in mind the recipient. It’s the thought, they say, and merely thumping down the basement steps reveals far too little effort.

You, dear reader, are unlikely to bear this job-related burden of expectation. For you, finding exciting, tasty wines chosen with a certain person in mind is likely to require a clever retailer or hunting and peering into dusty retail bins to find the right beverage. Here are a few suggestions, while there is still time.

▪ For Rhone rangers: The Rhone Valley is awash in plump and affordable wines. Cotes du Rhone is the usual region to buy (Guigal, Kermit Lynch and Perrin are trustworthy names), but if you’re feeling more generous, Chave makes one called Mon Coeur that’s mighty fine.

Prices ramp up in the Rhone as you jump to smaller regions such as Gigondas, Chateauneuf-du-Pape, St. Joseph or Cornas. Chave has an excellent St. Joseph too; Guigal, Chapoutier and Colombo can be counted on as well.

▪ For lovers of Italian wine: Italy receives far too little mention, yet sometimes its nearly limitless variety renders me wordless. But not this holiday: If I decide to show off I might spring for a Damilano Barolo Cannubi that is tangy, earthy and intense, but at around $100 maybe Luce della Vite Lucente seems more reasonable (it’s usually about $35).

Other Tuscans, Frescobaldi’s Nipozzano Riserva or Monsanto Chianti Riserva, are very good, too, and are often little more than $20.

▪ For sippers and swirlers: A lot of people like aromatic white wines; Alsace is probably the critical region that encompasses the greatest variety of such wines. Trimbach Gewurztraminer is the right place to start someone’s journey into those wines.

It’s likely to surprise most readers, but Kansas and Missouri have begun to excel at fragrant whites too. Somerset Ridge has its Oktberfest, White Tail Run offers a tangy LaCrosse, and HolyField makes a Valvin Muscat that’s like a bouquet of fruit blossoms.

▪ For locaphiles: Missouri’s official state grape, Norton, continues to prosper: Adam Puchta, Augusta, Cave Vineyard, Les Bourgeois, Montelle, St. James, Stone Hill and nearby Stonehaus are reliable. Each of those has made very attractive and generally dry wine from the Chambourcin grape.

Add Jowler Creek to that list, as well as Bluejacket Crossing for its Majestic Red, a blend of these two grapes. Weston’s Pirtle Vineyards has its own nice Missouri red blend called Weston Bend Red.

▪ For California dreamers: But most of you think of California for your wines. And why not? America has a thousand wine brands; most of those are in the Golden State. Out of those, readers always want names, so here ya go: Alexander Valley Vineyards, Au Bon Climat, Bonny Doon, Carol Shelton, Dry Creek Vineyards, Goldschmidt, Laurel Glen, Michael David, Pedroncelli, Trefethen, Trione and Ridge have all graced my table of late.

But I drink just as much red wine from Washington: Andrew Will, Brian Carter, Camaraderie, DeLille, Gramercy, J’Ecole No. 41, Pepper Bridge, Reininger, Tamarack, Walla Walla Vintners and Woodward Canyon.

Right now, Spanish wine is on my mind (and in my glass) — at least until I hop on the plane home. I’ve been tasting Aalto, Artadi, Abadia Retuerta, Capcanes, Marques de Caceres, Mauro, Muga, Murrieta, Torres, Vargas or one of my true passions, Lopez de Heredia.

Don’t get me wrong: Wine makes for perfectly wonderful giving, except when people might think I’ve just grabbed something from the basement. That’s why I’m just going online to buy some gag gifts.

This story was originally published December 22, 2015 at 2:00 AM with the headline "The Wine Press: Get in the holiday spirit with these gifts."