When one thinks about wine– or talks about it with others, it’s often about the rich, full-bodied oak-tinged flavors. Typically people fall into two camps: those that love oak and those that don’t. Those that don’t tend to go to light white wines and then switch over to harder brew. It can be confounding when you have a party or a group over for cocktails or dinner and have to have a variety of wines to suit most tastes–because people can be finicky. (personally I am not an oak person. I have friends who are into heavier oak flavors and we agree to buy separate bottles of wine when we are out).
Because it is that time of year for gift giving, it’s what to buy the enophile and suss out the taste of that person whether to get a red or white wine. Do you get something very oaky or light? It’s confusing and not particularly easy– even when you read the Wine Spectator Magazine, one of the wine industry "bibles" that evaluates wines.
Now there’s no need. Ecco Domani has made everything super simple! Thanks to Fabrizio Gatto, the winemaker for Ecco Domani, things got VERY easy .. and it’s going to make buying — and drinking wine- a breeze. Gatto changed the way the wine was aged by skipping any time spent in oak barrels thus eliminating the smokey flavors and some of the complexity. Instead of just dealing with a single varietal wine (meaning one type of grape), Gatto has created blends that take best of certain harvests/fields/vintages and works his enological magic on the blends to create uniquely vibrant wines that have a richness and complexity yet aren’t overbearing. Well-balanced, these wines would be appreciated by the wine connoisseur as well as the newbie.
The Ecco Domani 2006 Chardonnay/Pinot Grigio combines the richness of Chardonnay with crisp and refreshing flavors of Pinot Grigio to create a wine with depth and character.This wine is less acidic, more balanced white wine that’s perfect for most meals and personally would be something I would drink year round.
Ecco Domani 2006 Cabernet/Merlot blends the rich texture and firm flavor of Cabernet with the softer, longer and complex finish of Merlot to create a medium bodied wine with a deep ruby red color. The wine is characterized by spice, berry (Cabernet) and cherry/blackberry (Merlot) on the palate. It’s a more modern red style that a perfect match for a wide range of foods, particularly tomato-based pasta dishes, poultry and grilled meats.
Yummy wines that would easily go into the 2-3 bottle range for a leisurely dinner or cocktail party, these wines were rated comparably to the $30 a bottle brands yet Ecco Domani is a mere $11 per bottle which makes it a slam dunk BEST BUY in my book. Honestly why pay more when you can get top notch quality for so little money! Add this to the other Ecco Domani wines which include a LUSCIOUS 2004 Chianti, 2004 Merlot and 2005 Pinot Grigio, and you have a wide assortment of wines to offer your friends and family for both beverage and gifts. These are wines you should stock up on for your personal wine cellar and would not be ashamed of giving as gifts for this holiday season! Check out www.eccodomani.com.
GIFT GIVING SEASON
Now that I have solved part of your gift giving questions, I am going to solve the other part which is HOW to present these precious bottles of Ecco Domani wine as gifts. For the holidays, plastic bags and brown paper bags just don’t cut it! Sorry guys, not this year! Instead Ecco Domani has solved the problem for you– easily!! Instead of coming up with some silly weird bag that is clunky, they took a page from fashion designers. (After all, they are sponsors of the IMG NYFW and help sponsor shows for rising fashion designers.)
Ecco Domani partnered with select fashion designers to create unique "wine bags" that reflect both the artistic and design aesthete of the fashion designer married to the purpose for toting wine to give as gifts.
One of the options for this collection of unique "wine bags" was to create something that was distinctly for fashionable– for both the giver and the recipient. While the bag might be given as part of the gift, the variety of bags are so amazing that you might want to simply buy the bag to bring wine to parties and continue to use it. There are a couple that are sure to "wow" the fashionistas out there (and I have my eye on a couple)
We created Designs on Ecco Domani for fashion-conscious wine consumers looking for a unique wine accessory for any occasion,” said David Bowman, Director of Marketing, Ecco Domani wines. “We’re thrilled to have had the opportunity to team up with our talented EDFF designers again to create a stunning collection of one-of-a kind bags.”
• Kai Kuhne, 2002 EDFF award recipient along with former design collective AsFour, continues to push the envelope in fashion with avant-garde designs from his own label, Myself. For the bottle bag collection, Kai created a sophisticated, feminine, black wine purse with a jumbo-sized bow that will dress up any outfit, making it a chic wine carrier to bring to a fabulous cocktail party. Priced at $65. (This is the black bag at the back of the photo. The photo doesn’t do this sophisticated bag justice. It’s a killer bag and any self -respecting fashionista would kill to keep it. So if you are a handbag lover, make sure you hurry up and buy one!)
• Palmer Jones 2003 EDFF award recipient are talented design sisters acclaimed for their exquisitely embroidered and tailored jackets and recognized for their creative use of luxurious fabrics to create feminine looks. Their blue over-the-shoulder synthetic fabric, Ecco logo bag is functional, fun, and chic. It can keep a bottle of chilled white wine cool and protected during transit from one holiday soiree to another. This cute little synthetic bag is the multi-toned blue bag on the back right side and it’s ADORABLE. Not only is it washable courtesy of a swipe of a damp cloth, but it holds TWO bottles of wine. It’s ideal for beach, patio, bbqs and also picnics. Priced at $10, it’s bargain potential is perfect and it’s a great little gift idea to fill it with both a red and white bottle of Ecco Domani wines and give the entire package as a well presented gift.
• Mary Ping, 2005 EDFF award recipient is well-known for her simple yet mod runway looks. Her fashion has caught the eye of top fashion magazines around the world. Mary’s suede and patent leather wine sack is not only great for carrying a bottle of Ecco Domani wine but can double as a chic wristlet for day or evening.This wine sack is beautifully done in suede and is the most reminiscent of a wine bottle but would be an excellent wristlet that would actually hold keys, wallet, as well as "girl supplies". This bag is shown on the front right and is priced at $65. It’s a great deal for a suede and patent leather bag.
• Project Alabama, 2003 EDFF award recipient, are celebrated in the fashion industry for their unique hand stitched garments. Project Alabama created a burgundy, quilted, cylinder-shaped, leather trim strap bag to hold one bottle of wine that can also be used as a fashionable over-the-shoulder bag. This is a super sophisticated "downtown doll" of a bag. Unique in shape, it’s bound to attract attention as you open it up and pull out the bottle of wine as easily as you whip out a lipstick. It’s a beautiful bag of quilted material This luscious bag is priced at $85.
Where to buy these bags? www.eccodomani.com
PLEASE DO NOT WAIT to think 2 or 3 times about purchasing these bags. LIMITED EDITION = LIMITED SUPPLY and you will be sad if you don’t have at least one bag (or two or three) and you will want one for yourself as well as gift giving. So pull out that shopping list and credit card and shop online to get the bags. Go to your local wine purveyor or supermarket, and buy several bottles of the wine and you are set for a myriad of gift giving situations and holiday events.
Happy Holidays
Stevie Wilson
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I probably wouldn’t know in which cases to use wine accessories, like a wine bag, for instance. Are those for pick-nicks?
Just to add to my previous comment – I was trying to find some wine accessories in my local stores, but they don’t carry anything! Where can I buy a nice wine bag for a more affordable price?
Dear Stevie,
Thank you for Gehazi contact information. I really appreciate it.
Linda
the point of these bags were that 1) they were designed by fashion designers who previously had runway shows at New York Fashion Week and were sponsored by Ecco Domani and 2) what could be done to provide a more unique and interesting bag with price not being such an issue. Think fashion– not necessarily affordable.. although the two tone blue plastic one for 10 dollars is definitely an option and is excellent for picnics, gifting, taking bottles of wine to restaurants where you can bring your own wine and drink it for merely the price of a corkage fee.
However if you are looking for other simpler, less pricey options, I have seen bags at Trader Joes, Pier One, Cost Plus stores, select Target stores in gift sections around holiday time and also in catalogs and online.
Price points tend to be 10-20 dollars and they are just sacks of velveteen or velour.. where these limited edition Ecco Domani bags are definitely collectable.
Stevie
is the black wine purse with a large bow by kai kuhne available for purchase?