<p>Buying wine for a oenophile is always tough. I have a good friend who is an avid collector and seller of Super Tuscans and Bordeaux (recently sold 1/10th of his collection at Sothebys for around $42,000)
I always give him Scotch. It’s always appreciated since he knows nothing about it.</p>
<p>OK. My previous posts have already said tastes differ. I have tried to show the difficulty of someone here recommending to the OP what the Op’s friend will like.</p>
<p>But you win, on champagne. I will assume it is NOT wine. It does not come from fermented grapes from France. Perhaps it exists naturally in coconuts, or is a by-product of filling ink pens.
Now I see how wrong it would be to give the gift of champagne if a person was expected to give wine, since it is now clear champagne is not wine.</p>
<p>younghoss, why such sour grapes? 
If you tell champagne makers that they make wine, I wonder what their reply would be? ;)</p>
<p>^ it would be that they make wine. I have traveled in the Champagne region and stayed at three different Champagne wineries. The organization which sets the rules of Champagne viticulture is is the Comit</p>
<p>And Younghoss, I can’t imagine a good bottle of dessert wine for $16. Really good sweet wines are invariably very expensive. It doesn’t all have to be Chateau D’yquem, but as I mentioned in my post, around $45 or more for a good 1/2 bottle(not $16!-eeeeuuuw puhleeeeez :)). And it needs to be icy cold. But YMMV.</p>
<p>I will mention something that was said at Christmas dinner. My mom wondered if she liked dessert wines because they are delicious, or was it because at the end of the meal, after so much wine, could it be that she just was too drunk to know better?</p>
<p>My advice is go to a really nice wine and ask for a recommendation. If it’s not the kind of wine the person you are buying it for would normally like, that’s fine - they can open it when friends come over or <em>re-gift it</em></p>
<p>We went to a local winery a few months ago and one of the wines we bought was a dessert wine. I am usually not a fan of sweet wines but it went really nice with the cheesecake we had for dessert.</p>
<p>I don’t know where I got that $16. from musica. Thank you.</p>
<p>The trouble with a “good wine” is the definition. musica cannot imagine a good sweet wine for $16. Yet I know the local grocery sells plenty of Lieb at about $8. The sales prove plenty of people must think it is good. There is the trouble. Unless we define “good” as “pricey” then we are left with a more accurate definition of “good wine” and that is- “tasty to the drinker”. So a good wine is not properly defined by the price. If I don’t like sweet dessert wines, then I would likely say the Chateau musica mentioned was not a good wine, despite the price.</p>
<p>It is easy to find a pricey wine, but a good wine is dependent on the tastes of the recipient. Higher price doesn’t make it taste better to the recipient.</p>
<p>"Yet I know the local grocery sells plenty of Lieb at about $8. "</p>
<p>Good lord, what an overpriced grocery - don’t you have a TJ’s? 
I recall that they sell that stuff for 5 bucks.</p>
<p>iPhone ate part of my post to which musica replied above. The other part of the post was supposed to read, “But if you ask a typical person who drinks wine, champagne would not be the first thing that they would think of if asked if they wanted wine with their dinner” or something like that. My point was that both champagne and ice wine would be good choices only if the OP knew that the recipient was into that particular kind of grape beverages. Speaking of ice wine… I was posting from Costco - was too busy looking for Dr Loosen Eiswein (the one that comes in 187 mL bottles) under the wine display because the box on the shelf was empty. In fact, that wine was priced at about $16 (I think the number came from LP’s post), but was it really $16 wine? This wine retails for about $25-30 for a 187 mL bottle, so a full 750 ml bottle if it were available should have been priced at $80 or more.</p>
<p>I wonder what the OP thinks about our “wine whining” going on here. :)</p>
<p>I can’t imagine what the OP thinks but I think you should all go open a six pack and lighten up :)</p>
<p>Me? Just sitting back with my first test bottle and smiling. :)</p>
<p>I vote for a Rioja from Spain. Ask at the wine store.</p>
<p>I have no vested interest in this wine debate, since I really haven’t ever acquired a taste for it…but I’ve been wondering…</p>
<p>Stradmom, are you bringing the wine to have with dinner or just giving a bottle of wine? In other words, will the recipients be consuming with you, or can they smile politely and snort/regift when you leave? 
:D</p>
<p>^ In our area, the decision rests with the host/hostess. Some choose to serve the wine with dinner, and some say “Thank you very much, that was very considerate of you” and set the bottle aside. The latter is more likely to occur if the host/hostess has already chosen a wine to serve with dinner.</p>
<p>I guess that’s what I’m asking, is if they’re bringing it along to a dinner, or just presenting it as a gift. The OP doesn’t say anything about a dinner invitation. But I may have missed that somewhere in the rest of the thread.</p>
<p>Even if you are coming for dinner, i usually have chosen a wine to compliment the dinner…so i would definitely say thanks , and put it aside…</p>
<p>Ok, enough philosophy.</p>
<p>Part of the enjoyment of wines is getting a gioft that comes from an area or a winery that is off the beaten track.</p>
<p>My recommendation: Bonny Doon Vineyards in Santa Cruz County. It’s got an excellent reputation in wine circles, isn’t too well known, and they make good solid value red wines in the $30-$40 dollar range.</p>
<p>Look at the most well-known of their wines:Le Cigare Volant</p>
<p>Others include the Ca’ Del Solo Muscat or Nebbiolo</p>
<p>They’ve also had fun with wine names, too: for example, the California Critique of Pure Reisling</p>
<p>Or you could play it safe and take a variety of wines. If you stay within Gallo’s Twin Valley brand, you could take the host a bottle of Cabernet, a bottle of Pinot Noir, a bottle of Merlot, a bottle of Hearty Burgandy, a bottle of Chardonnay, a bottle of Moscato, a bottle of Savignon Blanc, a bottle of White Zinfindel, a bottle of White Merlot, AND a bottle of Pinot Grigio … all ten for under $40! But wait there’s more! If you order within the next ten minutes we’ll throw in …</p>
<p>cupcake wines seem to be a decent inexpensive wine. you could also buy a variety of their wines and maybe provide something they like…they have a cab, a chardonnay, merlot, moscato and there should be something there for everyone…</p>
<p>Not a good idea on either of the 2 posts above…</p>
<p>There’s the label swap gambit.</p>
<p>I like to serve more than one wine which means more glasses. Comparing wines at the table is a treat for all. Very difficult to truely appreciate something without a base.</p>