Gift Giving Guy

This year, Cupid gave bottles of wine and ballotins of chocolate. First, I chose the “Mondavi’s Cellar Selection” from Wine Country Gift Baskets. Four bottles of Robert Mondavi wine came in a gift basket stuffed with goodies like cinnamon cashews, bread twists, crackers and spicy snack mix. I’ll admit the sheer green ribbon adorning the basket doesn’t follow the red hues of Valentine’s Day. But the two red wines among the four bottles make up for it.

Next, I gave my wife the best wine opener on the market, Le Creuset Elegance Chrome Lever Model Screwpull. This chrome masterpiece makes opening wine as simple as clamp, press down and pull up. The Screwpull replaces our corkscrew that broke just before hosting a Christmas party last year. With a 10-year warranty, this sommelier’s friend should keep uncorking for some time.

Finally, chocolate is a must for Valentine’s Day. I ordered online a 36-piece ballotin of Candinas chocolates. Candinas follows the Forrest Gump philosophy: “My momma always said, ‘Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.’” Unlike other chocolatiers, you won’t find a map to each Candinas chocolate in the box. Candinas makes different batches of chocolates each day, a delicious chaos that makes a map impossible. These chocolates are heavenly, and we’ve learned to appreciate the mystery. And Candinas makes the chocolate fresh with no preservatives; it’s good for only 10 days. We’re up to the challenge.