Your job as a Christmas party guest is pretty simple.
Show up on time, dress appropriately, add something witty to the conversation and bring along an awesome hostess gift.
By using the overarching term 'hostess', we mean the woman putting on the party, but it can also be a male host or a couple.
Either or any way, you can never go wrong showing up with a bottle of exceptional Okanagan sparkling wine as a hostess gift.
Bubbles are festive, therefore, ideal for any holiday shindig or get together.
A bottle of sparkling also means you've upped your hostess-gift-giving game.
It's special, elegant, stylish, luxurious and universally loved and looks expensive (especially if the bottle is thick and heavy, it has a gold or silver label and shiny coiffe — the foil that covers the cork, wire cage and bottle neck).
There's also etiquette when you present a hostess gift.
Do not simply show up holding the bottle by the neck like a drunken sailor.
Photo credit: Blue MountainGift wrap option No. 1.
Put the bottle in a nice gift bag or tie a bow on it.
If you're feeling crafty wrap it in tissue or a Christmasy tea towel finished with ribbon.
That way the hostess, host or couple knows it's a gift they can tuck away for another occasion (aka drinking it without you) or they can unwrap it and oh and ah and open it for people to enjoy at the party.
Of course, regular wine instead of sparkling is also a welcome hostess gift, so apply the same gift-giving principles for a bottle of quality, red, white or rose.
Photo credit: Blue MountainGift wrap option No. 2.
So, with all that in mind here are some inspired hostess gift options:
– Blue Mountain Brut ($32) from Okanagan Falls
The ultimate hostess gift because it not only looks bougie (thick glass, gold label and coiffe), but it's delicious Champagne-method bubbly at an affordable price.
– Haywire 2018 The Bub ($35) from Summerland
Always keep your sparkling options open.
– Phantom Creek 2023 Rose ($30) from Oliver
Hostess wants pink.
– Haywire 2023 Gamay Rose ($29) from Summerland
Hostess wants more pink.
– Intrigue 2024 Social Rose ($23) from Lake Country
A fun pink in a fun bottle touting its every-occasion versatility.
– Di Lenardo Monovitigno 2023 Pinot Grigio ($18) from Friuli, Italy
When you want to gift the hostess some la dolce vita flair.
– Haywire 2023 Chardonnay ($33) from Summerland
When you want to gift the hostess the world's most popular white wine.
– Quails' Gate 2023 Pinot Noir ($34) from West Kelowna
A light-bodied red for an evening of light-hearted conversation.
– Free Form 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon ($30) from Summerland
A juicy red for an evening of juicy conversation.
– Black Hills 2023 Nota Bene ($70) from Oliver
When you really like the hostess, impress her with this top-shelf Bordeaux-style red, which also happens to be the 25th anniversary vintage of this iconic and signature wine from Black Hills.
Happy party-going you wine drinkers.
Steve MacNaull is a NowMedia Group reporter, Okanagan wine lover and Canadian Wine Scholar. Reach him at smacnaull@nowmediagroup.ca. His wine column appears every Friday afternoon in this space.
