Spirited Giving: Wine

It's the one-size-fits-all choice. Teetotalers can regift your bottle to an indulging friend. More-enthusiastic recipients can drink to your health while slugging it down with their Christmas dinner. Or they can hold on to that Gevrey-Chambertin 2004 until, say, the year they pay off their subprime home loan, at which happy moment they will imbibe a much-improved Burgundy, perhaps in front of the roaring fire into which they are tossing their mortgage-payment book. After all, unlike just about everything else, wine gets better with age.

Until a couple of years ago, there was no end to the headaches of shipping wine across state lines. Scrooge-worthy protectionist laws in dozens of states made it tough to spread holiday cheer through the mail — which meant you were out of luck if, after touring that boutique winery in Oregon, you wanted to go on its web site and send your brother a bottle of its best pinot noir for Christmas. But since the Supreme Court struck down those restrictive laws in 2005, online winery purchases alone have increased more than 54% among regular wine drinkers, according to the Wine Market Council's annual consumer poll. Does that mean buying wine on the Internet has gotten as easy as buying a pair of argyle socks? Not quite. Given that some states are still holding out, you'll need to carefully review the shipping information on the sites of web-based wine retailers and individual vineyards.

Even in shipping-friendly states, life is not completely simple. If you're going to send friends wine from out of state for the holidays, you have to choose a label that suits your sense of them and, more important, your sense of yourself. The threadbare — but infinitely clever — graduate student in Korean literature, say, will likely pick a brilliantly delicious "value" wine, while hedge fund titans may be compelled to go for the screaming vulgarity of four-figure trophy bottles that are usually drunk in cigar lounges after billion-dollar closings.

Here then are suggestions for cyber-Noel wine gifts calibrated to your income and the impression you want to make on Christmas morning at the homes of family, friends and associates.

The range is vast. Most wine retails for less than $20, but even if your resources can best be described as piddling, Christmas is not the time for sending Aunt Kate a $7.95 Romanian chardonnay. A "Dear Everyone" letter with a picture of you and your pug in the Poconos would be better than that. So spring for something a bit pricier that shows off your superior wine IQ. An excellent place to shop is West Coast online retailer K & L Wine Merchants, whose web site includes helpful, knowledgeable descriptions of its wares — and even identifies, with reasonable accuracy, real values. Catching our eye: a 2005 Schild Estate Shiraz Barossa Valley from South Australia ($23), described thus: "A bouquet of ripe red berries, licorice and spice makes way for a palate impression of rich, plummy fruits, with tannins that are soft yet abundant and showing a hint of vanillin oak." We also got more than a little excited about the 2004 Pesquera Tinto, a keeper from Spain's most venerated producer ($25). And if you're looking for a true holiday bargain, we'd gladly recommend the 2006 Foxglove Edna Valley Chardonnay, an amazing value from California ($10).

For people who are more secure in their identities — with nothing to prove by their gifting except their unerring good taste — we suggest the high-end offerings from the handful of emerging wine regions that are already producing first-rate vintages. While perusing Wine.com, we found remarkable reds from all over the globe, from Argentina (Susana Balbo Cabernet Sauvignon 2003, $29) to Washington state (Spring Valley Uriah Walla Walla 2004, $50). Of course, from southwest France, we'd be delighted to receive Château Maris Old Vine Grenache Minervois La Livinière 2004 ($50). And for a world-beating white, order anything from Alsace's extraordinary Zind Humbrecht. Its 2004 Riesling Heimbourg ($43 at Wallywine.com) will not disappoint.

There are two ways to go. For those gift-givers who want everyone to know they've spent a fortune and don't care if the choice also reveals a lack of imagination, Château Petrus is the ticket. Sherry-Lehmann is offering the 2003 of this revered Pomerol ("fleshy, fat and already sexy") for $2,225 — and, according to the store, it will be ready to drink in just two to three years. If you're interested in a 1986, suitable for imbibing now, the price is a mere $1,195. Finally, for the wine collectors on your list, who will know you've spent a bomb and obtained a cult wine that connoisseurs would kill for, go to Santarosafinewine.com. It's one of the very few sources for the Napa Valley's most revered and rare wines, like the one we're thinking about. Hint: The vineyard produces only 5,000 cases a year, all earmarked for chic restaurants, lucky ducks on its closed mailing list and privileged friends of the wine broker. Yes, people, you've guessed it: We're talking about Screaming Eagle. For anyone who wants to send me a bottle of this great cabernet, priced from $1,775 on up, I promise a very warm, ethics-bending welcome. To everyone else, a very merry Christmas. And you know what I mean by merry.