A classic way to express gratitude to a client, friend &…. let’s face it; anyone, is to gift them a delicious bottle of wine. Even if they somehow do not like wine, they will likely have an event to host and how nice will it be that they have something from you to offer them.

As long as it’s a good bottle, it’ll make for a conversation piece. And hopefully they remember you and how great it was to work together!
There are many business owners who prefer to stay away from consumables because they won’t remember later on, but I personally have and will continue to gift wine and other forms of consumables depending on my client. After all, food brings people together!

The obvious choice in purchasing wine would be to shop at the liquor store, but if you intend on gifting every one of your clients a bottle, it could quickly become too costly.

Another option would be to have wine made FOR YOU! I have done this a few times over the years and it has been a great decision!
When you visit a company that makes wine, a typical batch gives you about 30 bottles. Price will vary depending on the style of wine chosen, but it’s more align to $5 – $7 a bottle vs $13+

From my experience, you need to order the wine and not consume it/gift it out for consumption for about 1/2 – 1 year after receiving the bottles.
The first year I made wine, I tried it immediately after and it was VERY bitter. But that same batch the following year was tasty!
The second time I made wine I had 2 batches done, a rose and a red and had them ordered well enough ahead of time. By the time they were consumed they both tasted great.

You may think you can go into a wine making store and be able to test out the different flavours. Nope. Not going to happen. Most of the stores don’t have a liquor serving license. But you will likely get some great tips on choosing the right batch to make from the employees working.

If you’re near the St.Thomas area, here in Ontario I highly recommend “The Wine Makers”. They have great service and great flavours. And I got a lovely Christmas card from them, for being THEIR client!

In the end, you’ll want to weight the pros and cons of making your own wine or buying “big brands” from the liquor store, but if you know your client is in love with a particular bottle, it would probably be a better idea to go that route, at least for them.

Any questions? Feel free to contact me!

Cheers!