Beer, much like wine, is a rapidly growing culture, as micro-breweries, craft beers, and homemade beer kits are cropping up all over.  This holiday season beer gifts were in top demand! Here some perfect ways to give those beer aficionados in your life something special for their passion. Or to hint at what you might be hoping to get for yourself.

Top Beer Gifts!

One excellent place to start is a beer making kit.  This set includes a 1 gallon beer fermenter, 3 piece chambered airlock, screw top stopper, thermometer, plastic tubing, tubing clamp, racking cane and sanitizer.

Homemade beer tastes great! When you brew using the same grain, hops, and yeast that craft breweries around the world use, you can make some really good beer — beer that’s as good if not better than what you’ll find in stores. When you make it at home, you know where it was made, and you have access to the freshest beer you’ll ever taste.

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So you enjoy tasting and learning about different wines. Have you ever considered taking your hobby one step further and making your own wine? Don’t laugh, it’s easier than you think and you just might be surprised by the results.

 Personalized Mini Oak Wine Barrels

Think about it: the first wine wasn’t made in a commercial winery. It was made accidentally in someone’s home when some grapes meant to be eaten, were damaged or left sitting too long. With help from some natural yeast in the air, the process of fermentation began and the sugars in the grapes were converted to alcohol. Some adventuresome soul was brave enough to taste the fermented juice, liked it, and the rest is history.

Now, after thousands of years of refinements to the process, it’s easier than ever to make wine at home. Thanks to chemists and molecular biologists, yeast strains have been improved and better methods of sanitation help ensure you don’t end up with a bottle of something funky.

Better equipment is also readily available to the amateur vintner. This equipment is designed specifically for home use, so no need to purchase giant stainless steel tanks or full-sized oak barrels. You can, however, purchase personalized mini oak wine barrels that do the job just as well (not to mention look great on your counter!).

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Storing and serving wine at the proper temperature makes all the difference. Just like food, the taste of wine can be greatly affected by temperature –both positively and negatively.

Wine that gets too warm is, in essence, “cooked.” While that can be a good thing for food, it is definitely not for wine. The oxidation process begins, flavors are destroyed, odd tastes can develop, and the wine can just plain spoil. Now this won’t happen if your wine gets a bit warm for a day or two, but storing it for long periods in a laundry room or somewhere the temperature stays above 77°F can definitely have an adverse effect on your wine drinking experience.

Cold can also be the enemy of wine. A standard kitchen refrigerator is really too cold for long-term wine storage. It is perfectly fine, however, for short-term storage (a couple weeks or so). If wine gets too cold and stays that way, flavors are destroyed. Whatever you do, don’t store your wine in a garage or crawl space that is not insulated in winter; the result would be just as bad as storing it in a hot attic in summer. Plus, if wine freezes, corks can be pushed out and when it thaws, you’ve got a big mess.

The temperature most wine authorities consider ideal for storage is 55°F but anything between 45°F and 65°F is within an acceptable range. If you’re keeping wine for months or years, your best bet to preserve the sometimes-delicate tastes one can find in a good bottle is a refrigerator designed specifically for wine storage.

One option is a dual-zone refrigerator. It allows you to keep your reds at a proper storage temperature, while whites are kept in a cooler ready-to-drink state.

Oh, and here’s another tip: wine refrigerators fill up quickly. Don’t skimp on capacity. Buy the biggest one you have room for. If your collection doesn’t fill it up, well, that gives you an excuse to go buy more wine. That’s certainly not a bad thing! Plus a full refrigerator makes more efficient use of electricity.

As for proper serving temperature for wines, that can vary greatly depending on type. Sparkling whites like Champagne or Cava are on the low end of the spectrum (in the 42°-43°F range) as are sweeter whites like Riesling or Gewurztraminer. Big intense reds, like Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, Bordeaux, are at their best in the 63°-65°F range. For other reds, such as Chianti or Rioja, try a bit cooler, like 55°-59°F.

For dryer whites like Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc, 48°-50°F is recommended. That’s probably a bit warmer than many would expect but we suggest you try it. You’ll find the flavors are much more developed instead of being masked by cold.

If that special Cabernet or Bordeaux you plan on having with dinner has been stored at the ideal 55°F a great serving suggestion is to decant it an hour or so before serving. This will allow it to slowly warm to optimal drinking temperature and “open up,” releasing all the great flavors you don’t want to miss.

On the other hand, if your white or sparkling wine is stored at 55°F, but needs to be served cooler. There are lots of great options for chilling.

Whether you’re buying $10 bottles or $100 bottles, wine can represent significant financial outlay. Protect your investment so that you get the most out every glass. The best way to do that: store it and enjoy it at the correct temperature!

Occasions for wine vary from quiet evenings with one or two glasses on the couch with a movie or elaborate dinner parties. Naturally, for any of these occasions you’d want to enjoy the wine properly.

A fantastic way to enhance the qualities of your wine is to pour it through a Soiree wine decanter. This useful wine gadget fits to the bottle’s opening which means you don’t need two hands — one advantage over the aerators that require you to hold over a wine glass while pouring through it.

The wine pours through the Soiree decanter into a glass, instantly opening the wine up while leaving what remains in the bottle to be enjoyed later. It will elevate your mediocre wines to a higher quality and instantly age your favorite labels.

The Soiree wine decanter is a perfect gift for the oenophiles on your holiday list. The Soiree Gift Set includes the decanter, a drying rack and Stopair stopper / wine preserver all in a charming hard shell traveling case.

Save More, Enjoy More!

The Stopair can be used on anything that spoils to extend the life and flavor.  Simply put it inside the neck of your olive oil, wine, spirits bottle, ports and pump the air out to preserve it’s contents. It’s a one piece bottle stopper and wine preserver.

Another wonderful piece of wine gadgetry is the Tempour wine bottle chiller. This all-in-one tool will preserve the optimum temperature while serving as a wine stopper as well. When you’re ready for another glass, simply pour through the sediment filter and enjoy.




These days there is a wide range of products out there designed to enhance the wine tasting experience. The Soiree wine aerator is a product I have frequently encountered in tasting rooms throughout my wine touring adventures and my experience as well as their high opinion of this must have product makes for an easy decision to offer it to our customers at WineVine Imports.

That time of year is upon us, yet again, and many of us will be scrambling for gift ideas as we come down the holiday stretch.  While most of us already know, or at least sort of know, what to get those closest to us, there are some folks on our ever-increasing lists of holiday recipients that can be a challenge. For those that are in the business of maintaining relationships, such as clients or partners/associates, choosing an appropriate gift can become distressing.

Corporate Gift Ideas

For some really special clients, a calendar or exotic fruitcake simply won’t do.  WineVine Imports has some wonderful corporate holiday gift ideas that are practical, elegant, and thoughtful.

A great addition for gift baskets is a Champagne Stopper with your company’s logo or a message.  These champagne preservers will be crucial for those upcoming New Year’s parties.

A bottle of wine is fantastic way to show your appreciation to clients.  You can really display that gratitude with a custom Wine Tag imprinted with your company logo or personal message to the recipient.  They’re also great for large gatherings or banquets where more than a few bottles of wine will be served.

Another fantastic option is the versatile Chiller Bottle and Ice Carrier.  It’s perfect for any outdoor event and any beverages that should stay cold.

If you’re not sure what type of wine is appropriate, there’s no need to worry.  We have plenty of wine accessories that you can personalize with messages of gratitude or simply inscribe with your name and logo.

A unique and incredibly useful idea is a Savino Wine Decanter.  Anyone who drinks wine will appreciate this ingenious piece that preserves wine from spoiling for days after it’s been opened.

Another charming idea is the Corkcicle Wine Chiller.  These useful items maintain the perfect temperature for your wine, whether you’re looking to keep whites chilled or maintain slightly below room temperature for your reds.  They’re customized with your logo, a wonderful way to market your company while saying thanks.

And there’s the Vineyard Leather Wine Case. This elegant case, produced with cowhide, is an elegant solution for those like to bring wine on excursions.  It can hold two bottles safely and feature your logo embroidered on the face.

Along with gifts, holidays mean parties and gatherings.  Whether you’re hosting an office event or throwing a ‘thank you’ Christmas get-together for your roster of clients there are some elegant and savvy marketing options.  A set of GoVino glassware imprinted with your logo is a subtle, yet impressionable way to bring exposure to your brand.  These elegant pieces are perfect for large gatherings where breakable glass may not be practical.  They’re stemless, unbreakable, reusable, and carefully designed to create the same wine tasting experience more conventional wine glasses are known for.

WineVine Imports offers plenty of corporate gift ideas that will impress clients and keep your brand fresh in their minds, eliminating the need to resort to fruit baskets, calendars, or even the pressure to think of something unique and thoughtful.

When some people open a bottle of wine they’re determined to finish it, for one reason or another, no matter what. For some, including me, it’s because there isn’t any suitable way to preserve the wine in its bottle overnight. Believe me, I’ve tried. No matter how much I’ve wedged in that cork or how expensive the stopper, nothing works. By the next evening the wine’s taste has already begun deteriorating. Not mention that I have to pull it out of the fridge in time to come close to room temperature.

Then I came across this ingenious concept from Scott Tavenner that solved this aggravating problem. The Savino, a carafe with a lid, is an all in one solution to preventing wine from spoiling without the hassle of transferring wine from one container to another over and over again all for the sake of preserving it.

Simply pour the remainder of the bottle into the carafe, fasten the lid, and it’ll stay for up to seven days. The Savino employs a floater that provides a seal between the wine and air which prevents the oxidation that ultimately spoils wine. When you’re ready for more just pour from it as you would from any bottle. The floater tilts enough to allow for easy pouring and settles back to provide that seal from oxygen.

Perhaps equally important is that the Savino is an elegant piece of glassware, resembling the shape of the original bottle. It’s slender, classy and not all intrusive should you leave it on the table during your meal.

Frankly, there are many methods and dare I say procedures that have been marketed toward wine preservation. Some of which require advanced degrees in chemistry or engineering to actually implement or at least an unhealthy obsession with wine. Whether it’s a balloon devised to push the oxygen from the container or using another gas to replace the oxygen — I’m not interested in any of these complicated solutions to this particular problem. And that’s why I’m so delighted with the Savino because of its simplicity, elegance, and best of all – it works. I’m not alone either. This product is praised by critics in the Chicago Tribune and Huffington Post, to name a couple, and numerous customers are standing by with pre-orders now that I’ve added the Savino to my inventory of wine accessories.

Beer drinkers have their koozies.  Most liquor will do fine with some ice and a cocktail napkin.  Meanwhile, your glass of chilled white wine warms up and sweats.  This dilemma faced Julia Sherron as she relaxed with her family during a beach trip on the North Carolina coast.  Like many ingenious ideas, her solution was so simple.  Why not wrap her wine glass up in a modified koozie?

An insulator for your wine glass – Woozie® – is a perfect way to maintain the temperature of reds and whites as well as to avoid holding or clutching (depending on how many you’ve had at this point) a wet glass.

Sherron and her team have since developed an array of options to ‘outfit’ your wine glass to protect wine from all temperatures.  Whether your wine glass is stemmed or stemless, acrylic, or crystal, Woozies will keep your wine at the temperature it was intended to be enjoyed.  You can choose from a variety of patterns and design schemes for those wine tasting gatherings as a way to personalize your glass among the rest.  The patterns vary from paisley to safari (for those themed get-togethers) or mono-colored (yes, there is black for the guys).

The Woozie can add a touch of creativity to the practical need of maintain the integrity of your red or white; while under the relentless sun on a boating excursion or next to a warm fire on a chilly autumn night.  You can plan your next gathering or wine tasting with a set of themed prints or pick out woozies with fun sayings for when you want to make your get-togethers really fun!

In whatever setting you enjoy your next glass of wine, thanks to the ingenuity of Julia Sherrod and her team, now there is a way to keep your wine chilled or keep it from chilling with style and flair.

Most beer drinkers enjoy drinking out of a bottle rather than a can.  Some enjoy the flavor better, the feel of the bottle or the lip feel of glass versus an aluminum can.  For those who think green, the impact on the environment is less since it takes less energy to produce a glass bottle compared to a can.

Better Yet, Choose Bottle over Can for the Use of…

The NEW Chillsner

This innovative product works similar to the Corkcicle, as seen in Oprah’s Favorite Things List 2012,  in that it chills from inside the bottle out.  The New Chillsner In The Bottle Beer Chiller comes in a 2 pack with one freezer storage case and two instructional coasters.  Simply freeze the Chillsner, stick it in the bottle and drink from the spout.

Chillsner Features:

• Keeps cold beers cool to the last sip (up to 45 minutes).
• Eliminates unpleasant encounters with warm beer at the bottom of the bottle.
• Can be used repeatedly, anytime and anywhere. Ideal for most bottled beer.
• Easy to care for—simply hand wash.

You will never drink another half way warm beer again.   The entire beer from top to bottom will be perfectly chilled!  This intelligent invention by Corkcicle will be the most sought out product this summer and holiday season.  Give the beer, soda or fruit juice bottle drinker a gift they will enjoy over and over.  Chillsner comes in a two pack so you can enjoy with them.

The Fastest, Easiest Way to Pour Chilled Wine!

Perfect for reds and white wines.  Wine Pourer with gravity lid and chill rod.

Every year wine accessory innovators launch a hot new product that changes the way we drink wine. Popular items are uniquely shaped wine glasses that amplify the aroma of wine to stimulate our senses more precisely, in the bottle wine aerators and chillers. With all of the wine gadgets available today it is hard to believe that new wine accessories can still be invented and be so useful.

VinOice Drip Free Wine Pourer with Chill Rod

We are introducing the hottest wine gift for this holiday season. ..the brand spanking new VinOice! It’s so easy to use and you will use it every time you pour chilled wine. It keeps wine cold and is a drip free wine pourer—all in one tool.

The VinOice will stay inside the bottle. It keeps wine chilled from inside the bottle. No need to pull the tool out of the wine bottle when pouring wine. Just leave the VinOice in the bottle and pour through the attached spout. You can use one hand to pour wine while keeping it chilled.

Our favorite wine tool for 2012 is VinOice. This multipurpose wine tool consists of a stainless steel rod that quickly chills in the freezer for about 30 minutes. The rod is inserted into the wine bottle to keep the bottle chilled allowing you to drink chilled wines at leisure. No need to get up and remove the bottle from the refrigerator for a cold pour. With the use of VinOice you can sip outside or inside during a long dinner and not worry about wine getting warm.


What makes it a winning product is the VinOice allows you to do away with a messy ice bucket and a drip collar! The stainless steel rod maintains the optimal temperature for an hour and the gravity hinge tilts and allows you to pour a glass of wine without removing it from the bottle.  Truly, no more drips from removing the wine chiller from the bottle, no more fruit flies diving into your wine, no worries about what the wine chiller has touched before going back into the bottle, or messy ice buckets.


Function really meets fashion with this wine gift as well. The futuristic type product is a pleasure to own and makes the perfect gift. The VinOice is priced to sell and comes in a gift box perfect for wrapping.  Make the wine lover in your life a little more merry this holiday season.

by Adam Kristofco

Halloween is right around the corner.  We have seasonal gifts for all ages that we think you’re going to love!

Halloween Gifts

New for this holiday season are Halloween Glassware, Witch Bottle Stoppers, Wine Bottle Decor, Wine Glass Outfits, Spooky Eye Glasses and Spider Headbands for the kids.

These Halloween gifts are so fun and unique you’ll use them every year.

Halloween glassware is offered in two different style glasses. There is the 15 ounce capacity Halloween Cooler Glass Set of Four and Halloween On The Rocks, 14 ounce glasses sold as a set of four.

We have lots of funky bottle stoppers available this year.  The Purple Witches Hat is one of my personal favorites.  It’s  decorated with a shimmering spider web and has a furry black top.

If you are shopping for the DIVA of Halloween Wine Gifts, check out the Halloween Witch Purple Bottle Stopper Outfit.  It comes with a purple witches hat bottle stopper and witches clothes wine bottle attire. The bottle stopper features a cork bottle stopper fashioned as a purple with black fur witches hat. The body of the witch sports a lace dress decorated with black feathers and sequined boots.

Shop lots of Halloween Gifts.

Lets not forget about the kids.  We have some fun headbands and glasses the kids will love!  The Extra Large Spider comes in three different color choices and bends to fit all head sizes.

Lighted Halloween Spooky Fun Glasses are also available this year!  Choose between skulls, bats, or spiders. They light up to help you navigate your way around on All Hallows Eve! Batteries Included.

By: Adam Kristofco