Best gifts for wine lovers from Champagne buckets to vineyard tours

Unchanged now for many years, the £40 Wine Society lifetime membership is a great gift for someone who is keen to expand their knowledge of wine, as well as those becoming more-regular consumers. Membership of this non-profit body gives access to its own reliably excellent society and exhibition ranges, the society’s various subscription buying plans, as well as access to regional wine tastings and other events. Or you can just browse thousands of high-quality wines from around the globe, ranging from bargain value bottles from around £7 to fine wines at £40 and above, all with free delivery. If you are already a member, there is a fabulous range of festive gifts, ranging from mixed cases to wine and food hampers.

Anyone who is serious about their wine, and likes to keep a few bottles to hand, will need a cool, dark place to store them. If they are not fortunate enough to have a cellar or garage, this is the ideal luxury present and has the added benefit of freeing up fridge space. This model has two separate compartments to store reds and whites at different temperatures, with space at the bottom for larger bottles, such as champagne and magnums.

While it could be housed in any spare room or cupboard, with its stylish blue LED lighting and stainless steel frame, it would look great in any kitchen – and the UV filter glass door will keep out sunlight.

Regularly updated and expanded massively since its first edition in 1971, this is the guide to wine-producing regions of the globe. Created by two of the greatest wine writers and critics, 4.7 million copies have already been sold.

Beautifully designed, with brilliant photography and 22 new maps since its last edition in 2012 reflecting the opening up of new wine areas, including the remarkable rise of English wine, particularly sparkling.

An essential reference work for anyone who wants to know more about the places, soils and people behind the wines they are drinking.

While any wine can be decanted – apart from sparkling – only red wines benefit from it, and those with some complexity and ageing really demand it, particularly if the wine is going to be drunk quite soon after opening.

Decanting improves the flavours of even a budget red wine by aerating it through pouring and continued exposure to the air. So, decanters with a wide bottom, so more of the wine is exposed to the air, are best. While there are many styles and variations out there, the elegant design of the Eisch, with its classic, timeless appeal, wins our vote for a stylish present. 

In the unlikely event there is some sparkling wine left in the bottle and you want to keep it for later or even tomorrow, putting the cork back in is simply not an option. However, if you are a regular sparkling drinker, whether it’s everyday prosecco or special-occasion champagne, you will relish getting this elegant Italian-made chrome stopper, which creates a really tight and effective seal that will preserve the bubbles and delivers a reassuring “pop” when you flip it open again.

It fits ordinary wine bottles as well, and is much more stylish than the old method of putting a spoon handle in the fizz bottle, which rarely works for more than an hour or so.

Opening wine bottles should be pleasurable but can be painful when the corkscrew goes in at angle or you simply cannot get that stubborn and tight cork out of the neck without some kind of extra mechanical assistance or a third arm. All of which can leave you exhausted.

While there are many, many corkscrews and “waiter’s friends” out there, this device is the reliable gadget you need to do the job effectively, every time. Made by the legendary French culinary company Le Creuset, the two handles grip the neck of the bottle and the lever screw mechanism, with a very sharp end to the screw, inserts and pulls the cork out cleanly, effortlessly and very satisfyingly. It comes with its very own foil cutter too.

Serving chilled sparkling or white wine at the table demands a stylish bucket or wine cooler of some kind, and they do not come more stylish than this attractive coloured-glass bucket.

While there are zillions of basic buckets and coolers out there in glass or metal, this bucket is a better option because it allows room for ice – and also serves as an ice bucket for cocktails and other mixed drinks, when it’s not holding wine.

These distinctive buckets come in shades of purple-grey and blue and the manufacturing process makes each one a little different, and sure to be appreciated by the recipient, particularly if there is a nice bottle already inside it.

A single bottle of a good wine is a lovely present, but what if you want to give something more substantial that lasts longer than that final drop? A bottle and glass set is one answer. While many sets out there make attractive presents, mostly, the glasses bear the name of the wine or brand, which is fine for that first bottle, but can feel a bit odd when you want to use them later for other wines.

This gift for sherry lovers combines a terrific bottle from one of the great producers – a simply sublime aperitif – as well as two plain glasses that also serve very well as port or sweet-wine glasses. Plus, there are a couple of tins of nice olives and a recyclable retro-styled box.

The huge growth in domestic wine production has been accompanied by a growth in wine tourism – vineyards throughout England and Wales are offering tours and tastings and opening restaurants, hospitality venues and, in some cases, hotels and B&B; accommodation.

Ridgeway, located in gorgeous East Sussex, north of Brighton, is one of the foremost sparkling wine producers in England, and this voucher for two is valid for a year. It covers an education tour of the vineyards, a tour of the winery and a tasting of some of the fabulous award-winning sparkling wines, such as the sublime Cavendish (£30, Ridgeview.co.uk), a pinot-noir-dominated blend.