you’re in santa clara, so I suggest you order from K&L. they offer curb side pickup these days so its easy to get in and out. they have a great selection and very fair prices.
This is a good list. I’d throw in Neal Family Cab from Napa as well. It is a crowd pleaser that would also keep a wine geek interested.
Where would you be buying from? This makes a huge difference in recommendations. Is this friend local or are you shipping to them?
Hey Richard,
If you don’t know what he likes, even at a generous price point, you can’t be confident he’ll like the wine. He’ll appreciate the gesture regardless but fwiw I rarely drink gift wine. Gift wine gets re-gifted.
Then, as John said, where are you gonna get it? I don’t even know where in Santa Clara you should shop. WineClub by the airport closed. K&L is at 3005 El Camino Real, Redwood City, CA. If you have any reason to be up that way, forget us and walk in there with 50 bucks and you’ll do fine.
IF … you walk in with a sense of something else he professes to like. That’s all it’ll take; one thing you know he drinks happily or speaks well of.
Or you come HERE with a sense of something he professes to like, and we can SHIP? Piece of cake. You’ll get 50 executable good ideas.
Or if you really don’t wanna think about this anymore, the champagne recommendation is solid; nothing with an orange label though. I’d open literally one red wine mentioned in this whole thread, not because the others aren’t good; I just don’t like them. But I’ll drink just about any 50 dollar champagne you wanna show up with, happily, gratefully.
Send him two bottles of Bedrock Old Vine.