Moms? Maybe
Cliché alert: The following is a gift guide for Mother’s Day.
Caveat alert: These suggestions fit only if the recipient is actually interested in and enjoys wine. It is written under the assumption that the giver has moved beyond the phase of thinking a baseball mitt or Justin Bieber CD is a great Mother’s Day present.
Of course, a gift can be a good-for-all proposition. Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page’s fabulous book “What to Drink With What You Eat” should delight the mother who loves to cook and those who get to enjoy the fruits of those labors (and of the vine). I wholeheartedly agree with Karl Rigelman, beverage manager at Minneapolis’ Minikahda Club, who calls it “a wonderful resource that provides all the basic information for experimenting with different food and wine possibilities.”
Another potentially mutual-benefit gift is an experience: a visit to a winery or three, perhaps locally or a bit farther afield (Oregon’s Willamette Valley or California’s Russian River Valley, via fabulous gateways Portland and San Francisco, respectively).
Then there’s a “non-experience”: Give the Mom in your life a break from a drudgery-laden routine by promising to be the one who cleans the Riedels or keeps the wine-storage area tidy for the next year (OK, maybe six months is more realistic).
And of course there’s “¦ wine. Just be sure that it’s really in her wheelhouse and beyond the amount she’d be willing to spend on herself. Among the great options: a grower Champagne (Pierre Gimmonet, Aubry, Bruno Paillard) or something seriously sweet (Inniskillin Icewine, Dow’s 10- or 20-Year-Old Tawny Port, Baumard Quarts de Charme).
With these delicious delights, though, do not be disappointed if the maternal instinct for sharing suddenly goes missing.