So you have a wine lover in your life and a gift-giving occasion coming up. What to give them besides, say, a bottle of wine? Following are a few suggestions.
Does the person also like to bake? How about a set of wine-themed cookie cutters? I’m not sure if you can find purple sugars to decorate sugar cookies shaped like a bottle and a wine glass, but maybe good old red would work. Or you can frost the treats with a nice burgundy color icing.
Your drinking darling might tend to have cold feet – literally – and need to keep those tootsies warm. Wine socks would be a much-appreciated present.
Maybe the wine drinker in your life likes to dry glasses with a dish towel to leave them streak free. Who doesn’t need a fresh white towel – with a wine saying printed on it.
For white wines served at a dinner party, nothing looks nicer than a painted terra cotta jar made to hold a wine bottle bathed in cold water.
And a wine tote makes a lovely gift, especially when it’s branded.
You could also give a set of wine glass charms, little rings that fit around the stem of the glass, each with a unique charm, so guests don’t mix up their glasses. Or a special bottle opener. Or a set of unique hand-painted glasses.
But for the wine sipper who reads, what would be better than a wine-themed bookmark to go with their own copy of Murder Uncorked? The recipient can enjoy a glass of their favorite vintage while engrossed in a mystery featuring an amateur sleuth who manages a wine bar. Your dear one can mark their stopping point with the bookmark – except they’re going to want to keep turning the pages.
Raise a glass to Cece Barton, a widowed single mom and recent L.A.-to-California-wine-country transplant who suddenly finds herself at the center of a murder investigation in this sparkling new mystery series from Agatha Award-winning author Maddie Day.
As the manager of Vino y Vida Wine Bar in Colinas, Cecelia “Cece” Barton’s first Alexander Valley harvest is a whirlwind of activity. Her twin sister, Allie Halstead, who owns a nearby Victorian bed & breakfast, is accustomed to the hustle and bustle of peak tourist season. But Cece barely has a moment to enjoy her new home in between worrying about her estranged college-age daughter, juggling her responsibilities at the bar, and navigating the sticky politics of the local wine association. Just when it seems things can’t grow any more intense, Colinas is rocked by a murder within the wine community . . . and Cece is identified as a possible suspect!
With her reputation and her livelihood on the line—and the Sonoma County deputy sheriff breathing down her neck—Cece has no choice but to open up her own murder investigation. Tensions are already high in the valley, as a massive wildfire creeps toward Colinas, threatening homes, vineyards, and the vital tourist trade. And now, with a murderer on the loose, and Cece’s sleuthing exposing the valley’s bitterest old rivalries and secret new alliances, Colinas feels ready to pop! But with Allie’s help, Cece is determined to catch the killer and clear her name before everything she’s worked so hard for goes up in flames . . .
Reprinted with permission from Kensington Books.
