birthday gift ideas australia image
Q. My cousins coming over from Sydney (australia) to New Zealand (where I live) for her birthday but i have no idea what to get her. I want to get her something nice seeing as its her 30th and all. I was thinking of jewelery but them im not sure what type.
any suggestions on gifts would be greatly appreciated.
thanks!
any suggestions on gifts would be greatly appreciated.
thanks!
Answer
The main thing to remember when buying someone a gift is NEVER go over your budget and always keep it personal. We have no idea what your budget it but if she is turning 30 then perhaps a sterling silver necklace with some pearls would be lovely. They aren't too expensive and are lovely and a timeless gift that will be remembered each time she wears it.
Peace, Love & Happiness
The main thing to remember when buying someone a gift is NEVER go over your budget and always keep it personal. We have no idea what your budget it but if she is turning 30 then perhaps a sterling silver necklace with some pearls would be lovely. They aren't too expensive and are lovely and a timeless gift that will be remembered each time she wears it.
Peace, Love & Happiness
what kind of wine can I store for 21 years without risk that it will spoil?
Yola
I want to purchase a bottle of good wine for my niece's 21 birthday. She was born just few days ago, so if I buy a bottle and keep it for the next 21 years it will make a nice gift for her. I am afraid not all kind of wine you can keep for so long time because it will get acidy.
Answer
You have time to think about it, since the tradition is to get a wine from the vintage a child is born in, rather than simply buying one that was on the market at the time of birth. In other words, you'll want something from the 2007 vintage.
Disregard the advice from anyone who tells you that "any red wine" will age for the length of time you require. Only a small fraction of wines will actually age gracefully for that length of time.
Remember, the point here is (or should be) to give your neice something that will actually drink well on her 21st birthday or at a subsequent time of her choosing. So you want something that will still be drinking well in 2028, and ideally have at least a couple of additional years of life left.
For a wine to age that long, you're really restricted to buying top-quality wine, so be prepared to drop a substantial wad of cash on this. You're also more or less restricted to handful of wine varieties/regions: Vintage Port, red Bordeaux, Californian Cabernet, Australian Shiraz, Rhone Valley reds, Italian reds (Barolo, Barbaresco, "Super Tuscans", etc.), and to a lesser extent red Burgundy.
As others have mentioned, a Vintage Port is the traditional wine for a gift of this nature and it certainly has the staying power to age for (at least) 20-30 years *if* the vintage is good. Only time will tell if 2007 is a good vintage for Port. The other thing to bear in mind is that Port producers don't actually make a vintage Port every year. They only make it in the best years, so you'll have to hope that 2007 is one of the roughly 3 years each decade that get "declared" as a vintage year. Assuming it does, you'll be able to buy it through any good wine shop starting in about 2010. You may be able to order in advance from some stores, so find a good shop and ask. Prices will likely run from about $50-$150+ depending on the producer's reputation for quality. (See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_wine for more on Port).
Another option is to buy a top-quality red wine from Bordeaux. From a good vintage these wines can age for in excess of 50 years. Prices for Bordeaux (especially the top chateaux) have recently gone from exorbitant to patently absurd, with newly-released wines fetching upwards of $500 a bottle. There are numerous chateaux whose wine would age well assuming the vintage is good. First and foremost among these are the so-called "first growths" (chateaux Lafite, Latour, Mouton, Haut-Brion, and Margaux), but there are many other more sanely priced wines that would do the trick. Talk to the staff in your wine shop for recommendations. Again, you'll have to hope that 2007 is a good year for Bordeaux. Prices will run from $75-$300+ depending on how good (and hyped) the vintage is. For the first growths, they could run upwards of $500 a bottle.
Top wines from the new world and the Rhone Valley will be cheaper than Bordeaux (although not necessarily much cheaper!) and are capable of aging well. You might consider Penfold's Grange from Australia, or Shafer "Hillside Select", Caymus "Special Selection", Dominus, Colgin, Screaming Eagle, and Behrens and Hitchcock from California among many others. From the Rhone, top quality Cote Rotie, Hermitage, and Chateauneuf-du-Pape all age well. Expect a price tag of about $80-$300 a bottle.
Burgundy is a little bit more dicey. If the vintage is good however, the finest wines are easily capable of aging for 30 years or more. With Burgundy, you'll want to stick to "Grand Cru" wine and only from the best producers. Prices will run from $150-$1000+
I'd start by finding out what wine-making areas had a good vintage in 2007 (we'll have a good indication by late October, and a very clear idea by October 2008), and then getting advice about the best wines from that area. If 2007 is a good year for any of the regions mentioned above, you'll be able to get something for her to drink without too much trouble.
Then all you'll need to worry about is storing it properly. And you really will need to worry about that, since that will be absolutely critical to the wine's health at age 21.
Good luck, and if you want more specific advice, post more details such as a budget or wine preference.
You have time to think about it, since the tradition is to get a wine from the vintage a child is born in, rather than simply buying one that was on the market at the time of birth. In other words, you'll want something from the 2007 vintage.
Disregard the advice from anyone who tells you that "any red wine" will age for the length of time you require. Only a small fraction of wines will actually age gracefully for that length of time.
Remember, the point here is (or should be) to give your neice something that will actually drink well on her 21st birthday or at a subsequent time of her choosing. So you want something that will still be drinking well in 2028, and ideally have at least a couple of additional years of life left.
For a wine to age that long, you're really restricted to buying top-quality wine, so be prepared to drop a substantial wad of cash on this. You're also more or less restricted to handful of wine varieties/regions: Vintage Port, red Bordeaux, Californian Cabernet, Australian Shiraz, Rhone Valley reds, Italian reds (Barolo, Barbaresco, "Super Tuscans", etc.), and to a lesser extent red Burgundy.
As others have mentioned, a Vintage Port is the traditional wine for a gift of this nature and it certainly has the staying power to age for (at least) 20-30 years *if* the vintage is good. Only time will tell if 2007 is a good vintage for Port. The other thing to bear in mind is that Port producers don't actually make a vintage Port every year. They only make it in the best years, so you'll have to hope that 2007 is one of the roughly 3 years each decade that get "declared" as a vintage year. Assuming it does, you'll be able to buy it through any good wine shop starting in about 2010. You may be able to order in advance from some stores, so find a good shop and ask. Prices will likely run from about $50-$150+ depending on the producer's reputation for quality. (See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_wine for more on Port).
Another option is to buy a top-quality red wine from Bordeaux. From a good vintage these wines can age for in excess of 50 years. Prices for Bordeaux (especially the top chateaux) have recently gone from exorbitant to patently absurd, with newly-released wines fetching upwards of $500 a bottle. There are numerous chateaux whose wine would age well assuming the vintage is good. First and foremost among these are the so-called "first growths" (chateaux Lafite, Latour, Mouton, Haut-Brion, and Margaux), but there are many other more sanely priced wines that would do the trick. Talk to the staff in your wine shop for recommendations. Again, you'll have to hope that 2007 is a good year for Bordeaux. Prices will run from $75-$300+ depending on how good (and hyped) the vintage is. For the first growths, they could run upwards of $500 a bottle.
Top wines from the new world and the Rhone Valley will be cheaper than Bordeaux (although not necessarily much cheaper!) and are capable of aging well. You might consider Penfold's Grange from Australia, or Shafer "Hillside Select", Caymus "Special Selection", Dominus, Colgin, Screaming Eagle, and Behrens and Hitchcock from California among many others. From the Rhone, top quality Cote Rotie, Hermitage, and Chateauneuf-du-Pape all age well. Expect a price tag of about $80-$300 a bottle.
Burgundy is a little bit more dicey. If the vintage is good however, the finest wines are easily capable of aging for 30 years or more. With Burgundy, you'll want to stick to "Grand Cru" wine and only from the best producers. Prices will run from $150-$1000+
I'd start by finding out what wine-making areas had a good vintage in 2007 (we'll have a good indication by late October, and a very clear idea by October 2008), and then getting advice about the best wines from that area. If 2007 is a good year for any of the regions mentioned above, you'll be able to get something for her to drink without too much trouble.
Then all you'll need to worry about is storing it properly. And you really will need to worry about that, since that will be absolutely critical to the wine's health at age 21.
Good luck, and if you want more specific advice, post more details such as a budget or wine preference.
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