Thinking of buying some wine for Father’s Day? Here are some great Father’s Day wine gift ideas.
Dad wants a big wine. The kind of wine that will stand up to his BBQ, his filet mignon, his lobster tail. A bold red wine to go with pasta, meat, or beer nuts. A great white wine to drink on a warm afternoon while he’s watching a game.
He wants a special wine. Not the same old bottle that everybody else has. Not some wine you can find on any supermarket shelf. He wants a wine that he not only enjoys, but enjoys pulling out when friends or colleagues come over.
He also appreciates a wine with a track record. Maybe that means some big points from a critic. Maybe that means a gold medal, or a feature in a magazine.
Or maybe that just means it’s a wine that those
in-the-know are buzzing about behind closed doors. But it means something to him, and it’s what he wants, and Father’s Day is about honoring just that kind of wish.
Of course Father’s Day is about much more: it’s about paying homage to the big man what raised you.
The guy that taught you to fish, throw a ball, play chess, do math, talk to a girl, talk to a boy, tie your tie, drive a car, skip a stone, whatever it was between you and him. Father’s Day is the day to honor that memory or lesson. Here are the wines to do it with:
THE BBQ WINE
Braunstein Mitterjoch Zweigelt 2003 $12.99
The BBQ Wine
Sure, it’s a cliche, but I don’t know that I’ve met the Dad who doesn’t appreciate a good BBQ. Everyone has their favorite: chicken, ribs, steak, hamburgers, sausages, even grilled veggies, and this is the one bottle of wine that will go with them ALL. Zweigelt is the grape, and it’s generally described as being along the lines of a great Syrah/Shiraz. Which means bold notes in a full body. Fire it up!
THE FISH WINE
Gritsch Mauritiushof 1000-Eimerberg Riesling 2003 $24.99
The Fish Wine
Gone fishin’, and brought back some trout/catfish/salmon/crappy/whathaveyou. Cookin’ it up for dinner, and want a bottle of something perfect to drink while we eat. Give Dad this great, dry-styled Riesling which was named as one of the 100 best wines in the world by Wine Enthusiast magazine in 2005. And if you’re really wonderful, offer to clean the fish!
THE MEAT WINE
Wenzel Bandkraften Blaufrankisch 2001 $24.99
The Meat Wine
Dad a big-time carnivore? Here’s a wine that was built to go with great slabs of meat. Steaks, game meats, chops, you name it. In fact, some of the great steakhouses around town have got this wine on their wine list. A bold red from a great winery in a fantastic vintage year. You can’t go wrong.
THE DINNER GUESTS RED WINE
Feiler-Artinger Solitaire 2002 $49.99
The Dinner Party Red
A great red wine, and one that is quite the darling of the critics. This red is from a blend of grapes which you might think of as the Austrian equivalent of a Bordeaux blend: 50% Blaufrankisch, 40% Cabernet Franc, 10% Zweigelt. It is considered to be one of the finest red wines made in Austria, but has fans all over the world. Give Dad this perfect red to pull out when guests arrive, or take take with him when invited out.
THE DINNER GUESTS WHITE WINE
Sabathi Possnitzberg Sauvignon Blanc 2004 $34.99
The Dinner Party White
A great Sauvignon Blanc is appreciated worldwide, be it an Old-World French Sancerre, or a New-World New Zealand mouth-filler. Give Dad this bottle of Sav Blanc that bridges those two styles and comes from the best single vineyard site for this grape in all of Austria. At the 2003 VinExpo in Chicago they held a “World Wide Tasting of Sauvignon Blancs”, and the Austrian wines came out on top. You can read more about Sauvignon Blancs from around the world in this article:
From Cloudy Bay to Possnitzberg.
THE PERFECT BASEBALL WINE
Donabaum Spitzer Point Gruner Veltliner Smaragd 2002 $19.50
The Baseball Wine
Here’s a great white wine with a bold, edgy taste. It doesn’t see any oak, so it’s not going to feel too heavy to drink on a warm summer afternoon. Instead, it’s a wine that is refreshing while still packing a full-bodied punch. The minerality and profile make it a great alternative to beer, and it’s a damned fine wine to boot!
THE BOLD CHARDONNAY
Velich Tiglat Chardonnay 2001 $54.99
The Bold Chardonnay
If your Dad is fond of those big, international styled Chardonnays, this is the perfect wine for him. David Schildnecht, the Austrian specialist for Rober Parker’s Wine Advocate, has given several vintages of this wine his big nod of approval, and has said that it “makes one helluva contribution to any blind tasting of Chardonnays.”
THE PICNIC, POOLSIDE, TAILGATE, BEACH WINE
Tschermonegg Cuvee Styria 2003 $8.99
The Summertime Wine
As light and refreshing as it gets, while remaining a dry white wine. Big aromatics, medium body, imminently drinkable. And here’s the kicker- it’s pretty damned cheap! Send dad a whole case or two and get him all set for the warm days of summertime.
THE BETTER-THAN-THOU WINE
Hogl Ried Schon-Veissling Gruner Veltliner Smaragd 2004 $24.99
The Better-Than-Thou Wine
Probably the best Gruner Veltliner of the 2004 vintage, this wine has grabbed rave reviews, big buzz, and has just flown out the door. Already sold-out in Europe; only a small amount was ever allotted for the US market and we’re now done to our last two cases of this wine (as of the date of this post!) Give Dad a wine that folks are going to keep talking about, but nobody else is going to be able to get their hands on.
THE GOLD
Wenzel Saz Ruster Ausbruch 2001 $86.99
Liquid Gold
One of the finest half-bottles of dessert wine available, the Wenzel SAZ Ruster Ausbruch is liquid gold. Named as one of the best 100 wines in 2004 with 95 points from Wine Enthusiast magazine, it also scored 96 points from Wine & Spirits magazine, 96 points from A La Carte, and 94 points from the Austrian Falstaff wine guide. This wine is the golden ticket, the golden egg, the gold medal, and your Father deserves nothing less.
Full Case Sampler
Want to go a bit overboard? We have two great “taste of Austria” samplers, in a
half-case and
full-case size. Each explores the different regions, grapes, and great winemakers of Austria in a perfectly selected tasting of some of our favorites.
We also have a whole slew of great wines that are sold by the “flight”, which is a set of three bottles that are matched up to show off either a certain grape, region, or style. Such as the Chadonnay flight, or the red wine flight.
Add a Gift Card
And yes, we have the perfect gift card that you can add to your order, so Dad will know who loves him this much. We’re also holding over our limited SPECIAL SPRING SHIPPING RATES until after Father’s Day, so take advantage now!
