I need some wine for my dad

August 10, 2005 8:35 PM

Can anyone recommend a good place from which to order a "wine-basket" as a gift for my father?

My dad's birthday is coming up, and I thought a good gift might be a few interesting bottles of wine. He knows about wine, and prefers reds to whites. I'd like to get him something unique, and ideally packaged attractively (because of time constraints, I'll need to have the vendor send it to him directly). He's in the US, and my budget is around $100. Any ideas?

posted by nixxon to Food & Drink (10 answers total)

Which state is he in? Many states do not allow interstate wine shipments, so it would be helpful to know.
posted by cali at 8:41 PM on August 10, 2005

Oh, I didn't realize that. He's in Rhode Island.
posted by nixxon at 8:44 PM on August 10, 2005

That's a tough one. S752 / H5295 states that "it shall be unlawful for any person in the business of selling intoxicating beverages in another state or country to ship or cause to be shipped any intoxicating beverage directly to any Rhode Island resident who does not hold a valid wholesaler license issued by the state of Rhode Island."

Your best bet is probably to find a wine shop within the state that won't run afoul of the interstate limitations. Sorry I can't be more help than that.
posted by cali at 9:04 PM on August 10, 2005

To make sure, I checked the Bevmo web site, and found that RIers can now receive wine shipments from other states.

Since your father knows wine, I suggest you try a place that has wines that are out of the ordinary. I recommend Bounty Hunter in Napa, California. I'm a member of one of their wine clubs, and the selections they send are usually not well known or not produced in great quantity.

Also, their staff is very friendly and helpful, both on the phone and by email. The guy I usually end up talking to is named Abdi. He knows a lot and isn't at all pretentious.
posted by wryly at 10:02 PM on August 10, 2005

Campus Wines, close to Wickenden Street in Providence is a great wine store. They are always very helpful, patient, and not set on selling the highest price wine around. I'm sure they would be happy to help, and it might save on delivery costs.
posted by fionab at 10:49 PM on August 10, 2005

The Supreme Court just overturned bans on interstate shipping so you are in the clear. (However, because the ruling is so new, it may take a while for the new rules to shake out.)

While it does sound like it might be easier (and cheaper on the shipping maybe) to get something delivered from RI, I want to put in a plug for Sherry Lehmann in NYC.
posted by CunningLinguist at 5:05 AM on August 11, 2005

I've sent stuff from Bin 36 and folks have just loved it. I think their flight packages are a very nice gift.
posted by Sully6 at 6:35 AM on August 11, 2005

I've ordered from Wine Library and have always been pleased. HUGE selection, wide price range, seemingly good notes on each of the wines.
posted by occhiblu at 8:10 AM on August 11, 2005

My father has used Windsor to send personalized bottles of wine to his clients (and also a few bottles for the family around holiday time). I'm not a wine expert by any means, but I thought it was good.
posted by MsVader at 9:40 AM on August 11, 2005

Thanks to everyone for the great replies. Even if the mail-order thing doesn't work out to RI, these are a bunch of great links for recipients in other states. Now I'm tempted to order some wine for myself my wife!

fionab - thanks for reminding me of Campus Wines (which used to be Campus Liquor, if I'm remembering right). That *is* a great store, and is about 2 minutes from my dad's place, but I hadn't even thought about asking them to put something together for me. That might be the easiest way to go given the confusion about legality of sending booze to RI from other states.
posted by nixxon at 7:05 PM on August 11, 2005