Unique Gift Ideas Created in the Napa Valley

Here are a few really special gift ideas to take away with you from the Wine Country. Whether it is a gift for a special occasion or gift to yourself, these will surely put a smile on your face. As a matter of fact, these gifts will pair perfect with the wines you bought on your last trip to Napa Valley.

Wouldn’t it be fun to pack up that case of the wine you just bought in Napa and put it in a suitcase custom-made to take your most special vintages with you to your next travel destination or to have a glass when you get home and not wait for a shipment? Absolutely! It used to be that you could travel with a 6-pack carry on as a souvenir from your visit. Though that luxury is long gone, the good news is you can still take it with you!

FlyWithWine is the ultimate wine travel suitcase which was designed exclusively for safely transporting wine. Put your favorite vintages comfortably in this indestructible check-in bag and pick it up with confidence at baggage claim knowing your 2005 Estate Cab is safely intact. And fully loaded with a case of wine it still weighs less than 50 pounds. You can also customize your wine luggage too, as they have a variety of inserts for fit your various bottle sizes and even your special Riedel Wine Glasses.

They have just added to their luggage collection two new colors to the VinGardeValise Portfolio, now available in black and burgundy. And if it is too hot to ship over the long hot summer, you can add a Chiller Sheet insert, so you can travel with your wine in a temperature controlled environment for up to 36 hours. How cool is that! They even have a wine glass insert too!! www.flywithwine.com

Though if you want to use all of the space in your customized suitcase for wine, there is an option. Grab a box of your favorite GoVino shatter proof drinkware and put it in your backpack or carry-on and you will be ready-set-go to enjoy a glass or two of the one of your Napa Valley wines as soon as you land in your next destination. These innovative sommelier-approved wine glasses can go with you anywhere and were established in the Napa Valley in 2008 by Joseph T. Perulli.

The GoVino glasses have quickly been adopted by some of the world’s most renowned wine estates and it is the first shatterproof wine glass of its kind to be accepted by the industry. GoVino offers design driven glassware options for wine, beer, champagne and cocktails and they even have a decanter as well. These are perfect when proper stemware isn’t available or in settings where breakable glass in prohibited. May your Holidays be Smashing … Not Your Glassware! www.govinowine.com

GoVino

You just packed your FlyWithWine suitcase with a selection of wines from Hestan Vineyards and while there, you had the opportunity to go to The Hestan Barn for an amazing cooking demonstration by Hestan Chef Philip Tessier. He was using an amazing line of cookware, the Nanobond. Hestan just debuted the Hestan Cue: A Connected, Smart Cooking System which redefines the home kitchen. What an amazing culinary innovation. Now that you have Chef Philip’s new book “Chasing Bocuse – America’s Journey to the Culinary World Stage”, The Hestan Cue is a must have in your kitchen.

Hestan Cue is a video-guided cooking system that automatically controls temperature and time, every step of the recipe. Their smart cookware, induction burner and recipe app all communicate with each other using Bluetooth technology and embedded sensors – automatically adjusting the cooking temperature and time as you proceed through each recipe. Cue doesn’t cook it for you – it helps you cook better food, more often. And the best part…you are learning to cook beautiful meals from chefs like Philip Tessier.

NanoBond cookware in Napa, Calif. (Photo copyright Nader Khouri 2016, naderkhouri.com)

The Hestan Cue Team includes acclaimed chefs from Michelin-starred restaurants, pioneering software developers and meticulous designers dedicated to tirelessly reinventing the cooking experience. You can find the Hestan Cue at William Sonoma and Amazon or at www.HestanCue.com