FEELING GIFTY? We Are! Check out Holiday Selections for Food and Wine Lovers
Now is the time for some serious holiday shopping. We have collected our favorites for food and wine lovers. Cookies, books, spirits, wine, and gourmet gifts are all in our guide. There’s something for everyone at a wide variety of price points to suit every taste and style. Web sites are included for your convenience so start shopping!
For the pantry:
Vignoli Italian Food Anthology – The company recently launched in the US founded by Claudio Vignoli, master miller and olive oil sommelier. Vignoli Italian Food Anthology offers gift sets that enhance any home’s pantry, with carefully curated selections of olive oils that Vignoli produces with top olive growers in Italy. Vignoli currently offers 11 gift sets that pair infused olive oils and vinegars in cohesively themed packages to give consumers a convenient way to sample their products, all on which are available from Vignoli’s online store. Highlights from Vignoli’s gift sets include Citrus Meets Savory; Essential Italy; and Flavors of Fruit. Visit their website for additional gift ideas which include prepared foods by their brand chef, Emily, an olive oil sommelier and chef, who has authored eight of her own cookbooks. Vignoli offers many other gift ideas from their product line that includes pastas, tapenades, egg pastas, sauces, among other Italian pantry items.
Trade Street Jam Co. – They have a special offering for these festive times. Their Tis the Season Holiday Gift Set includes three of Trade Street’s top sellers, including Sour Cherry Ginger, Plum & Rose and Limited Edition Cranberry Raspberry Sage. Perfect for gifting for the upcoming holiday season, or enjoying for yourself. The jams are a welcome addition to a cheese or charcuterie board or enjoy them on your favorite bread, muffins, and crackers. The gift set is available for $46.00 on Brewing the American Dream Marketplace. For more information, visit the Brewing the American Dream Marketplace.
Rubirosa at Home – Rubirosa, the iconic Italian-American, family-owned restaurant and pizzeria in New York City known for its thin crust pizzas and signature fresh pastas has launched Rubirosa at Home, a product line of tomato sauces and olive oil. Since opening in 2009 on Mulberry Street in NYC’s Nolita neighborhood, Rubirosa has cemented itself as a New York City destination. After years of demand, the new product line debuts with three pantry items all inspired by the signature ingredients used in the restaurant’s most famed dishes, including Marinara Sauce, Vodka Sauce and Extra Virgin Olive Oil. You will be especially pleased with the packaging that will impress anyone who receives this gift of Italian delights. Rubirosa at Home is available direct-to-consumer online and at the restaurant in Nolita.
The Spice Lab – The Spice Lab has a great selection of spices, salts, seasoning blends and so much more for every type of cook. They also have specially curated gift packs that are ideal for home chefs. The Spice Lab sources the highest quality organic spices and they use natural ingredients with no GMOs. It is a woman owned and family run business.
La Devozione – The restaurant and shop located in Chelsea Market, NYC, and owned by Pastificio Di Martino, Italy’s leading pasta maker, offers gift pasta tins, that makes for great gift ideas, designed by two iconic brands, the celebrated fashion designers Dolce & Gabbana and the other by Mattel Inc. the long-standing, multinational and entertainment American toy company. Shoppers can also choose individual packages of various shaped pastas that may be wrapped in either Pastificio Di Martino’s signature shopping bags signed by Dolce & Gabbana or curate several pasta packages to be included into one of the brand’s Signature Tins with beautiful graphics. To complement the pasta, a selection of colorful, hand-painted ceramics and plate ware from Vietri’s famed Solimene Ceramica are on sale in the center of the pasta shop. Here shoppers will also find additional ceramics by the Campania region’s designers Bhumi, alongside Pastificio Di Martino’s own accessories like branded Italian coffee Moka pots, magnets, and more.
Partners Coffee – The Brooklyn-based small batch coffee roaster just relaunched their fan-favorite holiday blend, Miracle On North 6th Street with a beautiful new design. As an update, this year, for the first time, Miracle is also available in a stocking-ready instant coffee version Created for cozying up by the fire, Partners’ Miracle blend ($22/whole bean bag) brings holiday cheer with notes of sweet orange, honey, cranberry, and warm spice-mulled wine. Miracle Blend’s new Instant Coffee at $17 a box is perfect for holiday travel and ready to enjoy in minutes. Miracle Blend’s festive new packaging in glittery gold and green depicts Partners’ flagship café, its bustling Brooklyn block, and the coffee’s journey from bean to cup to reflect community and connection this holiday season. Additionally, Partners just launched a new Instant Coffee in their signature Ghost Town decaf blend at $17 a box. Processed with mountain water, Ghost Town decaf is just as clean as it is cozy. Partners ships nationwide and orders placed before 12/13 will arrive before the holidays.
Books to treasure:
Simple Pasta: Pasta Made Simple. Life Made Better – Odette Williams, the Brooklyn-based, Australian cookbook author has released her new book, Simple Pasta. The book is published by Ten Speet Potter for $28.99. Simple Pasta showcases Odette’s signature style of bringing effortless and laid-back elegance to everyday cooking and entertaining, this time with pasta as the star of the show. The book features praise from bestselling author Stanley Tucci – who describes it as “pasta deliciously portrayed in all its rustic elegance.”
The Art of the Japanese Cocktail – The book, co-authored by Katana Kitten’s Masahiro Urushido and the agency’s Editor in Chief/Partner Michael Anstendig, was produced by the agency’s President & Founder Hanna Lee who served as the book’s Chief Creative Officer. With a foreword by cocktail historian and acclaimed author David Wondrich, the book tells Urushido’s epic story of growing up in Japan and becoming a leading bartender, first in Tokyo and later in New York City. Part memoir, part travelogue, part recipe book, it was published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, now part of HarperCollins. The book includes 90 recipes for cocktail and bar snacks from Urushido and 35 bartenders in the U.S. and Japan who work in this style, with stunning photography by Eric Medsker.
A spirited holiday:
Tulchan Gin – This is a luxury small batch craft ‘London Dry’ Gin from one of Scotland’s most prestigious estates. Tulchan Gin’s roots are the botanical flora of the estate and the unmatched distilling heritage of Speyside, home to the finest Scotch whiskies making it an exceptional and rare spirit, a Gin from whisky country. Tulchan Gin a celebration of Scotland alongside the traditional botanicals and typical flavor profile that one would expect to experience in an ultra-premium London Dry’ type Gin. Tulchan Gin conveys the local Scottish flora, with sloe berries, blackberry leaves, white asparagus, elderflowers woven alongside traditional Gin botanicals such as juniper, angelica root and liquorice root.
Empirical – Empirical, a Copenhagen-based flavor company crafting free-form spirits, has launched a brand new expression, their Symphony 6. This elegant and complex botanical spirit is produced with six underutilized yet highly fragrant leaves: mandarin, lemon, coffee (rolled and unrolled), black currant and fig leaves. Co-founded by Lars Williams and Mark Emil Hermansen, two alums of Noma, Symphony 6 represents the most botanicals that Empirical has ever used in a spirit. According to Lars, “Flavor is an incredibly powerful way of registering memories. The stories of our lives can be captured through flavors.”
Jefferson’s Bourbon – Since its launch in 1997, Jefferson’s Bourbon has continued to make its mark on the category. As the brainchild of Trey Zoeller and his father Chet, a famed bourbon historian, they were continuing a family whiskey tradition that goes back to Trey’s 8th generation grandmother. Upholding tradition, yet always discovering new possibilities, Trey’s unique and sometimes unorthodox approach to the maturation process and the art of blending have allowed him to achieve the distinct characteristics and unique flavors Jefferson’s is known for today. Discover the Jefferson collection for gifting and imbibing.
Olmeca Altos® Margarita Classic Lime – With good taste and bar quality margaritas in mind, Altos Margarita Classic Lime uses only premium ingredients made with Olmeca Altos® Plata Tequila, natural lime flavor, triple sec, and agave syrup. Here’s to raising the at-home imbibing experience in three simple steps. Simply unscrew the 750mL glass bottle, pour over ice, and sip. It’s perfect for entertaining and for gifting Margarita lovers.
Dirty Devil Vodka – This is the first and only vodka in the world that utilizes proprietary technology to blend hyper oxygenated water with its gluten free corn spirit. The result? Extra oxygen further refinines the taste to create a true ultra-premium vodka that is ideal in cocktails.
Share the sweet treats:
Levain Bakery – There’s a brand-new limited edition cookie from the iconic Levain Bakery, Dark Chocolate Peppermint. The cookie is now available on e-comm, and will also be available in retail stores. Indulge in these scrumptious cookies over the holidays and plan to gift them too. These special chocolaty and minty holiday cookies will be available in 4, 8 and 12 packs and in a brand-new winter cookie assortment with one sleeve of luxuriously festive Dark Chocolate Peppermint, and another sleeve of the classics that everyone loves including Dark Chocolate Chocolate Chip, Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip, Oatmeal Raisin and Chocolate Chip Walnut cookies.
Seattle Chocolate and jcoco – The woman-powered chocolate brands should be on your gifting radar. All products ship nationally and give back to causes that the company is passionate about. For a festive Hanukkah gift, Seattle Chocolate’s Hanukkah Truffle Bag ($12.99) features a custom menorah design by illustrator Frida Clements and includes an assortment of creamy, meltaway, two-bite Dark Chocolate and Dark Chocolate Sea Salt Toffee truffles (5oz; about 15 truffles) with blue and silver wrapping. The truffles are perfect to liven up any space and add some extra holiday flare to your celebrations. For a vibrant stocking stuffer, jcoco’s BAR5 (Milk + White or Dark for $19.99) offers a decadent tasting experience packaged in a stylish, soft-touch bookcase holding five one ounce creamy chocolate bars. The BAR5 is Star-D Kosher Dairy certified.
Mochidoki – Their premium mochi ice cream offerings, crafted in partnership with storied pastry chefs and culinary advisers, are the perfect gift for those with a sweet tooth! Check out Mochidoki’s seasonal “Hosting Gift Set” ($140), which includes a 4-piece boxes of Matcha, Strawberry, Vanilla Chip, Purple Sweet Potato, Cake Batter, Black Sesame, Vegan Mango, and Vegan Passion Fruit flavors. The Set also includes four 5″ wooden serving plates, four wooden tongs, and four cotton serving tea towels. In addition, you can check out the many flavor selections available for shipping and gifting.
Samuel Adams Cookie Kit – Samuel Adams Brewing the American Dream, a philanthropic program that provides mentorship and capital to food and beverage businesses nationwide has launched the Sam Adams “Baking the American Dream Kit.” Providing all the trimmings to whip up a Sam Adams Winter Lager-inspired recipe, the custom kit is the perfect way for cookie fanatics and craft beer lovers alike to support small businesses. The new, one-of-a-kind cookie recipe kit includes dry ingredients from Hot Bread Kitchen of New York, NY and a seasonal spice blend from Colonel De of Cincinnati, Ohio-both small businesses supported by Brewing the American Dream.
Make it a wine time:
San Felice’s Poggio Rosso – This is the perfect Tuscan choice to serve all season long. The beautiful ruby red wine has a nose that releases scents of dried plum, blackberry, and raspberry. With velvety tannins and a judicious acidity on the palate, it is a wine of extraordinary longevity. It pairs well with grills and barbecues, wild game, and aged pecorino cheese. Gift this wine or bring it along to the next party you attend.
Sandeman Port Wine – This historic brand is behind the most awarded portfolio of ports, has teamed up with Jasper Hill Farm to create a first of its kind, limited edition Port infused Harbison Mini cheese. Sandeman Founder’s Reserve Ruby Port’s powerful aromas of rich red fruit and fire bring out flavors of vanilla, woodsy oak, and a hint of viande fumée in the cheese. You’re not going to find a more perfect match than our Sandeman Port and Jasper Hill infused cheese. Sandeman infused Jasper Hill Cheese is available for purchase on the Jasper Hill website and in select stores nationwide. With the upcoming holiday season, a bottle of Sandeman Port and the infused cheese could be a delicious gift for friends or family.
Villa Maria Private Bin Pinot Noir 2020 – This is a vibrant wine which encapsulates the hallmarks of a classic Marlborough Pinot Noir (and one of the few great Pinot Noirs found under $20). This vivacious and aromatic red boasts notes of strawberries, raspberries, and red cherries on the nose as well as an array of juicy summer fruit, amalgamated with flavors of fresh coffee and deep cocoa. Its balanced acidity, medium-bodied nature, and luscious flavor profile are sure to introduce a deeper fascination for New Zealand’s exceptional wine offerings.
Castello Pomino, Leonia Pomino Brut Millesimato 2017 – This bold yet elegant Tuscan wine is lovely in the glass with a straw yellow color and effervescent bubbles. With citrus notes on the nose, it is flavorful and fresh on the palate. This sparkling wine is ideal for your next celebration.
Viña Leyda Coastal Vineyards “Garuma” Sauvignon Blanc 2021 – This Chilean Sauvignon Blanc is from the pioneering, boutique winery located in the Leyda Valley. Beautifully bottled, it is an elegant, well-balanced wine that is ideal with a wide range of holiday fare from salads to seafood.
Tenuta Perano, Chianti Classico DOCG 2019 – Winemaker Gianni Luchini creates superb wines at Tenuta Perano in the Tuscany region. Comprised of San Giovese and complementary varieties of grapes, this Chianti has a radiant ruby color. This delicate wine has notes of ripe red fruit followed by a delicate spicy flavor. With a lingering finish, this is an easy wine to pair with your favorite foods.
Tenuta di Collalbrigo Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore DOCG Brut – This Valdobbiadene Prosecco DOCG is sourced from the heart of this prized appellation-the hills of Conegliano and Valdobbiadene. Characterized by an appealing light straw yellow color, this Prosecco offers a sophisticated bouquet of white flowers and golden apple. Persistent and refined bubbles make this sparkler suitable for the most special occasions with loved ones.
We know that these wonderful gifts will please friends and family. Happy holidays!
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