Wine preferences are entirely personal. If you’re picking a winery, best to know if your recipients like it or your good intention will be wasted - I’ve made that mistake.
Here’s something I’ve done for a friend in the past. Consider a mixed case with the theme ‘Tour of X’. X could be France, California, Italy, whatever…A good wine shop could help you assemble this. This way you’re not picking the wines so much as you’re helping your friends experience the different regions of a wine area. A good wine shop can help you.
If you were doing France for example you could include two bottles each from the Loire, Burgundy, Bordeaux, Rhone, Provence, Alsace.
I’ll second the idea of a mixed case. My mother used to give my husband one for his birthday. She just called up a nearby (to us) wine store gave them a price and asked them to put something together. They were a lot of fun to get.
But my kids would not like a gift like this, especially one that is several months long. They might, might enjoy a one time gift better. Maybe.
The signing for the wine would be a problem for them. One of the kids is in an apartment complex, packages go to a central mailroom. Which they do like but I’m thinking that the recipient has to sign? How would that work?
When my kids work from home, they are doing that, working. They are in meetings and working, they aren’t answering the door when in a meeting. They might be working out during lunch or taking a shower during lunch. If a package comes at an inconvenient time that has to be signed for, then they would have to track down the package when they are done with work. When they want to do what they do.
I know my kids, a package that has to be signed for once a month would not be something they would enjoy.
The idea sounds great for a young couple who has everything (and I emphasize with that as mine have lots) but I wonder about the execution.
I know that if I have a package that needs to be signed for, it creates anxiety for me. And we are retired.
I am a fan of small local merchants.
I would look up wine shops local to the couple, talk to the owner and have them select and send your gift. They could get a variety in your price range. And the couple could develop a relationship with them.
We usually pick up wine at Fed Ex, but the last time it came to the door while we were out on a walk and we were able to talk to him via the Nest doorbell. He asked if it was okay for him to sign and leave it on the doorstep!
But the wine store delivery works really well, they used to call us and ask when was a good time to deliver my Mom’s wine.
Usually when we have wine being delivered we have a tracking number/delivery window. One of us makes sure to be home and not in meetings. We definitely need to know it’s coming.
I don’t know, I’m just talking about my kids and my nieces and nephews. The grandparents send gifts and the kids don’t get their mail, they don’t open it. They wait a week to pick up their deliveries or forget completely. They don’t use the gift cards. Then I get a call from the grandparents and I have to track down what the kids have done. And mine are pretty responsible. The kids just see things differently than I do.
What I hear is that it’s not a problem from posters here. All of who I suspect are older than this couple and who ordered the wine themselves.
The couple might love the gift, what do I know. I’m glad people love getting wine in the mail.
I don’t know about the main gift, but I can suggest a great addition. We ordered a Caricature also on a wine theme for a friend and she really liked the gift, she is a big wine lover)) I can’t leave a link, but the Photolamus site, look, you might like something.
Mixed bag here in 2022. In 2020 and 2021, the wine boxes were left on the doorstep. This year, one delivery guy was fine with us waving at him, and the other waited until we opened the door and asked for my husband’s name and punched that info into his device.
We’ve had both - once it was just left on our doorstep (we live pretty far from the street) and another they had to come multiple times for delivery, and it only worked because we happened to be home on vacation days. Count me in the camp of “one deliver fine,” just like for any wedding present, but not every month.
I have done the wine club thing a couple of times, always sucked into the great deal you get on the first shipment. Then I’d always get the notice on the door, “FedEx was here”, even if I was there, I didn’t always hear them, did they even try? Getting the warning on how they’re going to send it back, so I’d slog to FedEx, wait in line for pickup and them to search for it, transport the heavy box home. Sometimes the wines were not good. It all sounded so enticing.
I’d definitely prefer a nice box of mixed wine from a good winery.
We have a friend who lives in Napa. He has connected us with the owner of a vineyard he and his wife really like. They can help us put together what we want. Or so it seems.