Wine is the perfect gift for every person you kind of know

Finding gifts for people you know is hard. Finding gifts for people you kind-of-know is even harder. Your barista, that family friend, your other work wife, it can get overwhelming quickly. Let's face it, despite all they do for you, you barely know them and time is running out. Thankfully there is no need to worry because wine is the perfect gift for most quasi-strangers on your list. Here are some people who may be on your list, and the a perfect bottle to thank for them for the random ways they bless your days.

Attractive Barista

The salty one: Orange Wine

The overly friendly one: Provence Rosé

Your barista, whom you rely on to start every day, is an obvious place to start with this guide. There are two subcategories of barista, and they are both intoxicating.

Salty hipster. You see them so often and this familiarity never translates to warmth. Still, it feels great to over-tip them, while they actively avoid eye contact. Does their surliness remind you of yourself at that age? You'll surprise them with an orange wine at their art show they did not invite you to, but you saw advertised on a discarded flyer. You'll tell them that an orange wine is a skin contact white wine; inwardly, you will know that is as tannic, savoury and intriguing as you find them to be. They will take it without saying thank you and later make fun of you while enjoying it more than they would like to admit.

Extremely friendly latté artist. Confusingly joyous even when troubling world events transpire or a weird smell overtakes the cafe. You have decided to thank them for all of their smiles - even the ones you didn't appreciate at the time - with a rosé from Provence, a sunny area in the South of France. A rosé in winter? It is almost as unexpected as someone who makes coffees for eight hours a day always smiling. They will be touched, so touched that for a moment they seem almost solemn and are they tearing up? Could it be that their ceaseless joy is a coping mechanism to handle this brutal world and do you not understand them, at last? Never mind. Something was in their eye, but they really do appreciate your gift and give you a free cookie that you later throw out because you are trying to cut back on refined sugar.

Your Dog Walker, Karen

Chablis

You have always loved dogs and wanted one for years. You never felt ready, but realize no one feels ready and this is in fact the secret of adulthood, to do it anyway. Your first puppy Instagram gets tons of likes - but you quickly, yet all too late, realize that you are gone for most of the day.

You cave and get a dog walker, Karen, to perform the perfunctory task of ensuring your steed does not relieve itself on your living room floor. This gives your Best Friend their own life and this is beautiful! You are grateful to Karen and the least you can do is give her a gift to say thanks. Besides, it is getting cold on those walks and she touches a lot of poop. Chablis is an unoaked Chardonnay from northern Burgundy. It is grown on subsoil made of seashells (really!) and this creates salty, mineral driven and joyous wines. Karen's first sip, which she sneaks into an empty coffee cup on New Year's Day, will stop her in her tracks with its lightness and complexity. This moment will allow your dog to eat a used tissue, his favourite, and thus it will be the gift that keeps on giving.

Pizza Delivery Person

Argentinian Malbec

They know too much about you. They save you when you're in trouble* and never judge you when you are down**. They smell warm pizza all day and never take a bite. "Pizza Person"*** you'll say, "because of you, internet spoilers never spoil anything because I have binge-watched it all expediently thanks to the nutrition you deliver. I'm sorry about that one time I spoiled the end of Stranger Things for you, but seriously dude what have you been doing that thing was released weeks ago?" To prove your regret, you'll present them with an Argentinian Malbec. You hope they'll pour a big glass that is round enough to make them forget, and smooth enough to complement the extra hot peppers that they deserve.

* hungry

** hungover

*** you will never know their name

Dry Cleaner

Jura Red

They know everything. They have gotten a lot of things out. Things you will never talk about. Things you must never acknowledge. The obvious choice, a white wine, would insult their professional capacity to overcome. Choose a light red from the mystical land of the Jura in France. It is dark and spicy enough to enthral them and light enough to remove from the carpet when they knock it over, perhaps just to show off at this point.

Friend Who is Addicted to Take Out Food

Alsatian Gewurztraminer

They never cook. Their go-to small talk is bringing up that study about everyone being happier if they ordered more food in and hired a maid. You get them for Secret Santa and consider a takeout voucher, but don't want to be too reductive. You settle on a Gewurztraminer, a white wine from Alsace that you think you heard Oprah loves. Gewurztraminer is not only fun to say, it is also round, perfumed and a little bit sweet, perfect for pairing with diverse flavours and sauces. It is a higher alcohol white, but that is fine because they never have to get home after dinner.

Work Friend Who Isn't Your Work Spouse

Cabernet Franc from Ontario or the Loire

We all have our work wives and husbands with whom we share everything. Then there is Tammy or Bob. We love them, but we just met them at a bad time. We were already in a thing or fresh out of a thing and it really isn't them it is us. In another time and place it could have been different!  This calls for a Cabernet Franc. Cabernet Franc is the underrated, lighter bodied, utterly delicious sibling to Cabernet Sauvignon. It is serious, complex and full with a characteristic green leafiness - think green bell peppers. Green peppers are a beautiful pepper. Yes, they are sometimes in a discounted four pack for 99 cents, but that doesn't mean they don't have equal value to the red peppers in our life and that sometimes they aren't just what we need in this pizza pie we call life!

Spinning Instructor

California Zinfandel

You are thankful because they have enabled you to look and feel great, but you hate them for being eye-rollingly toned and hold them personally responsible for your intimate knowledge of every Justin Bieber song created. Punish them the way they have punished you with a California Zinfandel. It will go down smoother than a throwback Jay Z ft. Beyonce mid-class and before they know it the whole bottle will be gone. Little do they know, Zinfandel may be fruity and smooth, but is also around 15% alcohol and tomorrow at 7AM they will be the ones hurting! Haha! Got you this time, Brian!

Morgan the Postal Service Worker

Pinot Noir

At one time, ordering something online seemed crazy. At first, you ordered a book here and there, but then that felt so good - and you started reading again! - that now you order a lot, basically everything. While you aren't usually home there is a little area in the foyer that your postal worker, Morgan, has agreed to leave things. Around the holidays, you have more than usual coming and surprise it is all for you! Morgan knows this, but Morgan never judges. On a day when you expect a particularly exciting package, leave a bottle of Pinot Noir with a bow. Pinot Noir is light, spicy, earthy and powerful. It is as versatile and complex as the Internet, but as light on its feet as Morgan, who let's face it, is basically your Santa every day.

Uncle Who Comes to Your Family Holiday Events But You Don't Know Well aka What do you Buy a Later-Middle-Aged Man Other Than Socks.

Ripasso

You are unsure of his political views and would rather not know so you can continue to enjoy his spot-on celebrity impersonations. Really you would rather not buy him anything at all, but he incomprehensibly gives you a $50 cheque every year and you feel obliged. He is big and burly and wants a wine that reflects these characteristics that you imagine he admires in himself. Ripasso is made from the same grapes as Amarone, aka uncle sauce. Amarone is made from grapes that are dried to increase their concentration (and alcohol!) giving them powerful savoury and sweet flavours. Ripasso is made from the grapes of Amarone used again (re-passed) through fresh juice. This means cheaper for you, still rich, manly and savoury for him. It is more moderate alcohol than an Amarone, so while the jokes will get good and spicy, you'll never have to hear his opinion on the #metoo movement and that's for the best.

Nicole Campbell has a WSET diploma, runs a boutique natural wine agency at Lifford, as well as witchy wine parties under the name Grape Witches. She is always casting spells and invites you to join her.