The holiday season is upon us, and so is the race to find just the right gift for everyone on your shopping list.

The Wine Road wineries can help you quickly check off that list. There are even fun gifts for folks who don’t drink wine or are under 21, like stadium blankets, chocolate sauce, and puzzles. Some of these items are only available by visiting the winery, but others are available on the winery’s websites.

Moshin Vineyards Candelabra

Moshin Vineyards Candelabra

Large Bottles
Giving someone an extra large bottle of wine is a great way of saying “you’re special to me.” Wineries often sell large format bottles during the holidays. A regular wine bottle holds 750ml of wine. Large format bottles start at 1.5L, called a magnum, and can also be available in 3L, 4L, 6L or even 9L bottles. (9L equals an entire case of wine!) Availability and sizes will varies from winery to winery. If you are interested in purchasing a large format bottle of your favorite wine for someone special on your list, or for an upcoming engagement, anniversary, or birthday party, watch for large format email offers or contact the winery directly.

Pedroncelli offers Magnums (1.5L) and Half Bottles, (375ml) plus tumbled marble coasters

Pedroncelli offers Magnums (1.5L) and Half Bottles, (375ml) plus tumbled marble coasters

Small Bottles
Half bottles (375ml) are great stocking stuffers and also make excellent gifts for co-workers, a gift exchange, or a hostess gift. You might be surprised to find how many wineries offer half bottles of their wines.

Check out Portalupi's Vaso di Marina bottles and carry crate

Check out Portalupi’s Vaso di Marina bottles and carry crate

Unusual Packages
Unusual bottles, wine kegs, or wine in a box are three other unique formats to share as gifts. If you know a wine lover and don’t know what to give them, give your favorite winery a call and they’ll help you figure it out. Better yet, come by for a visit. During the next couple of weeks dozen of Wine Road wineries will be hosting their annual holiday open houses. Not only can you enjoy a day in wine country, but you can get your holiday shopping done, too.

Merriam Vineyards offers wooden gift boxes

Merriam Vineyards Wooden Gift Box

Coasters, T-shirts, Openers, and More
Most wineries offer many non-wine items in their tasting rooms. Tumbled marble coasters are a great gift, as well as an apron, t-shirts, olive oils, chocolates, or even baby clothes. Some wineries might only have a small selection of gift items, while others have dozens of items to pick from. Tickets to winery events are also a great holiday gift, like tickets for the upcoming Winter WINEland on January 16 & 17, 2016.

Mounts Family Winery's lineup of wines

Just Wine
Don’t underestimate the value of a bottle or two of wine as a gift to those on your holiday list. There are so many options to choose from along the Wine Road, it might be tough to decide. Along with large format wines, some wineries also offer library releases, dessert wines, or verticals (multiple vintages of the same wine).

Now get your list together and start shopping while you taste. That’s my kind of shopping.

Happy Sipping!

Posted by Rebecca Germolus

Rebecca Germolus, co-owner of Maximum Value Marketing, loves Sonoma County and playing along the Wine Road. Rebecca daily immerses herself in wine country by providing cost-effective marketing and writing solutions to wineries and restaurants.

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