Great Gifts for Wine Lovers

Most people I know enjoy a glass of wine.  Some like a glass now and then, some share a bottle every night, some know what they're talking about, some think they do and others are so sure they do they'll bore you to tears.

It doesn't change the fact that finding gifts for wine lovers is easy; finding gifts they'll actually enjoy and use is not so.  So you need to know who you're dealing with - from the afficionado to the simple wine enjoyer.

This is a selection of gifts - from Le Creuset's simple to use and beautifully made waiter's friend to Coravin's super sophisticated wine system that allows you to open the bottle without really opening it.

You really can't go wrong with the Le Creuset waiter's friend.  It looks nice and does the job it's intended for perfectly.  If you know someone who would prefer something that requires much less effort, consider giving them the Joseph Joseph winding handle corkscrew which is incredibly easy to use.

Finally there's Vinology's Deluxe Electric Corkscrew which comes with a built in foil cutter and is charged and ready to open the first 50 bottles.  Perfect for a party?  I would think so.

Of course there are thousands of corkscrews on the market, however these are three from classic to innovative, not over priced and all of which will open your bottles with ease.
 Most wine lovers have at least one decanter, probably several, so you need to be a bit careful when you add to their collection.  My favourite, although it's quite tricky to clean is Riedel's Amadeo Decanter - a talking point at any table and beautiful when you're using it and when you're not.

Then there's the simple Riedel decanter which is excellent for ''entry level' wine decanter collectors and drinkers.  Just a perfect every day option.  Closely followed by the attractive contemporary wide base wine decanter which comes with an oak stopper.

 When it comes to wine gadgets again there are plenty, but here are three you might like to consider.

Coravin's unique needle system lets you leave the cork in place and allows your bottle of wine to remain 'intact' for a long time.  So for those who want to have a special glass from the cellar - Petrus anyone? - without needing to drink the whole bottle this would be a very good, if pricey, gift.

Then there's the wine aerator, which I know for a fact works very well.  Le Creuset's wine aerator, pourer and stopper helps to open up the flavours in your bottle of wine as you pour.  Every wine lover should have at least one of these.

Finally a gift that I was given a couple of days ago and seriously like - there are many wine bottle foil cutters out there, but this one is well made, weighty and makes the task of removing the foil on the top of your wine bottle the work of a second.  Brilliant.

Last but not least there's Hugh Johnson's pocket wine book - indispensable to all wine lovers - an excellent stocking filler and a book that I buy every year.  Then there's the World Atlas of Wine - updated edition, written by Hugh Johnson and Jancis Robinson and which every wine lover should own - just make sure they don't already before you splash out.

For any wine lover a subscription to Decanter makes a great gift.  Again make sure whoever you're thinking of giving it to isn't already signed up.  You have the option of giving the magazine or the digital edition or both and you can now sign up for six months or a year.  For anyone who likes reading up to date articles on wine and accessing Decanter's wine scores, this is an excellent choice.

For all my wine suggestions and travel notes come and follow me on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/glamoursleuth/

20 Sweet and Scented Gift Ideas for Mother's Day that won't Break the Bank - The Origins of Mother's Day

Mother’s Day this year is March 31st (just in case you needed reminding). If you’re looking for Mother’s Day ideas you don’t have to look far, you’ll find them in every store, every shop window, every other store newsletter. Mother’s Day ideas replaces Valentine’s Day ideas almost seamlessly.

Mother’s Day is always the fourth Sunday of Lent, and can be traced back as far as the 16th Century when servants and workers were given time off to visit the ‘Mother church’. It also became a tradition to bake a Simnel cake and take it home to mothers. Click through to Delia Smith’s Recipe for Simnel cake.

And by the way it should really be called Mothering Sunday, not Mother’s Day which is the more commercialised version. If you’d like to read a bit more about the origins of Mothering Sunday click through the article from the Telegraph.

Ok back to the day itself. Having had three kids myself, all pretty much grown up now (are they ever?) the only thing I would really appreciate on Mother’s Day is a message - And yes in this hyper-techo world a text will do. It’s about remembering, un-reminded. Two at least will be out of the country, and the only thing that matters to me is that they show they care.

However, many will be giving small pampering gifts to their mums and the best thing about online is of course that if you can’t be there you can send something out. Most popular are flowers, chocolates and fragrant gifts but anything small and pretty and beautifully presented will do.


Included here are my top 20 Mother’s Day ideas for gifts that won’t break the piggy bank but will be appreciated by most mothers everywhere.

The Latest Tech Accessories for Phone Addicts

Because your mobile phone is no longer just your phone…..it’s your camera, your music maker, your office away from home (when you can’t take a laptop).

You need to be able to charge it wherever you are, link up a keyboard to it - one that fits easily into your backpack - listen to music with it, and take pictures with it.  Your mobile is no longer just your phone (repeated I know) - it’s so powerful it’s a mini computer as well, and most of use use ours pretty much all day, far too much some would say.

So it’s no surprise that there are new developments in phone tech and accessories appearing all of the time, many of which are particularly useful at this time of year because when you can’t think what to give someone, give them something to do with their phone - but not something silly and useless, something really quite clever and that they may not have thought of themselves.  Seriously good gifts for mobile phone lovers always go down a treat.

I go on and on about mobile chargers, but having had so many pinched ‘borrowed’ by friends and family (and friends of family) I will continue to do so as lighter and more powerful ones are released.

This is just some of the phone tech available now.  You really need to keep up - last years model of anything phone related simply just won’t do……

As someone who is in the next few months going to upgrade to an iPhone without a headphone jack, which I have to confess I've been putting off, this is another tiny piece of tech I know I'll need - a lightening to headphone jack adaptor, with a splitter so I can charge my phone at the same time.  How long is it going to take me to lose this?  Who knows.......