A VINE TIME | Seriously festive gifts for wine-loving loved ones

‘Tis the season to be jolly, which also means the season of hunting for the perfect gift.

For festive gifts to wine-loving loved ones, relatives, friends, bosses or business contacts, A Vine Time offers some suggestions, personally vetted by your wine columnist.

A word for the savvy shopper: look out for special gift packaging and added value such as glasses or a wine opener, often included at the usual bottle price at this time of year, to add some extra shine to your gift.

For the serious wine-lover’s collection: Vilafonté — a brand built purposefully around exclusivity, luxury, supreme quality and ageability. Local stores have festively wrapped Series C and Series M, or shop www.vilafonte.com to delight a collector with older vintages, vertical vintage collections and big bottles, all beautifully packaged.

For the appreciator of premium brandy: KWV TEN, a multi-award-winning, 100% potstill brandy matured in French oak for at least a decade, has just launched a refreshed, elegant gold-on-black label. A sophisticated look to complement a supremely smooth, characterful and complex brandy perfect for unhurried enjoyment. Also available in a gift pack with two brandy glasses, at the same price as the solo bottle — a festive win.

For the festive decorator: Roodeberg Red Blend arrives topped with a jolly Santa hat to add warmth and colour to the festive table, entrenching Roodeberg’s association with sharing stories and connection with family and friends. A fun gift under the tree or great partner to summer braais and festive foods such as glazed gammon, roast lamb and chocolate desserts.

Bring on the bubbly: Look for local specialists such asCharles Fox, Colmant, Silverthorn, Domaine des Deux, and Le Lude, and giftable boxes from top brands like Kleine Zalze and Glen Carlou.

For a more lasting gift, give a high-end Champagne stopper to keep those bubbles fresh — check out Le Creuset, Yuppiechef.com, or the online shop of their favourite bubbly-maker for a branded one.

The white-wine snob: For those who like their white wines complex, wooded and ageable — Steenberg’s Icon range Magna Carta 2023, a sauvignon blanc-semillon blend, is a superb reflection of the estate and the distinctive quality of Constantia white wines, and has just landed the title of Cape Bordeaux White Blend Wine of the Year in the 2026 Platter’s guide. Highly, highly recommended.

The golfing wine-lover (or wine-loving golfer): Ernie Els Signature 2022, a gorgeously complex, aromatic and deep, ageable Bordeaux-style red, multi-award-winning, Platter’s 5*, wrapped and beautifully gift-boxed. Never mind the golf angle, this is one for the serious red wine lover and collector.

The offbeat, music-loving friend who has probably read ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’: Orpheus & The Raven No. 42, an unusual and delicious Cape blend of pinotage, pinot noir and cinsaut. The winery’s intriguing labels alone make them a great gift — exquisite, intricate hand-drawn illustrations depicting personal stories, philosophy and mythology — but the quality of the wine inside ensures the gift will be memorable and appreciated.

Send the recipient to the Orpheus & The Raven website to listen to GQ born ‘n bred winemaker Etienne Louw’s “tasting notes” on his guitar.

The history buff: From SA’s first wine farm, Groot Constantia Grand Constance revives the legend of a Cape wine enjoyed by Napoleon in exile, mentioned in Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility as a cure for a broken heart and in Charles Dickens’ The Mystery of Edwin Drood as a means of lifting one’s spirits. In a bottle echoing the 19th century original, packed in a wooden “treasure chest”, it’s a slice of SA wine heritage and a delectable dessert wine.

Honouring the four winemakers who have made Alto wines for more than a century, Alto MPHS 2021 (5*) is a powerful, complex “very Stellenbosch” cab sauv-cab franc blend, in a wooden box for a distinctive gift with lasting power.

When size matters: A magnum (1.5l), jeroboam (3l) or methuselah (6l) makes a seriously impressive gift, also great for sharing on a festive occasion. Wine also ages better in larger bottles. Look out for Seriously Old Dirt by Vilafonté in magnum, and the popular The Chocolate Block in all three large sizes.

For the lover of fireside conversations: De Krans Cape Vintage Reserve port-style is an excellent “port of call”, packaged in a gift box for the season — bold, intense, rich and deep, super smooth and with ageing potential over 30 years, it has won a Platter’s 5* for every vintage over more than a decade.

For the eco-conscious: Van Loveren Rhino Run organic-certified chenin blanc or pinotage, not only easy-drinking for camping, picnicking or post-safari sundowners, but every bottle bought generates a donation directly to rhino conservation and anti-poaching initiatives.

For the bookish wine lover: The Platter’s SA Wine Guide 2026, filled with all the minute detail that a wine geek’s heart could desire; wine farm info, wine descriptions and ratings, wine region maps, breakdowns of the ratings by wine grape and winemaking style, and statistics galore. It should be in local bookstores in early December.

Alternatively, buy them a subscription to The Herald so they can read this column every Friday.

The wines in this article are mostly fairly widely available in GQ, the Eastern Cape and Garden Route — shop around in stores that have good selections, such as Preston’s (particularly Main Road Walmer) and Tops (South End, Waterfront, Newton Park, St Francis), and specialists like The Taste Room in Walmer.