Wine 2K

I suspect that come Jan. 2 we will all be glad if we never hear the word “millennium” again. I know I will, because I cannot turn around these days without bumping into yet another winery, wine gadget maker, wine book publisher or some other johnny-come-lately who has yet another idea for separating me from a large portion of my life savings.

If they are right, the wine-drinking world is about to embark on the greatest round of New Year’s spending since, oh, the year 1000.

Sadly, when it comes to the Olken household, we fall squarely in the sights of these capitalists, these far-sighted entrepreneurs, and we cannot get away. Far too large a portion of our holiday gift-giving is going to be devoted to this celebration. Call us sentimental, but we are going to take part in the end-of-the-year festivities as if they actually meant something.

One of our favorite stocking stuffers is a little device known as a “champagne stopper.” Unlike a bottle of wine, into which one can restuff a cork to save those last drops of good juice for another day, sparkling-wine bottles do not accept their corks a second time.

Enter the champagne stopper, a little spring-loaded clip that goes over the top of the bubbly and clamps around the raised edges of the bottleneck to form a secure seal. The bubbles quickly fill the chamber with carbon dioxide, a very fine preservative, and the sparkling wine can be put in the refrigerator for another day. Inexpensive champagne stoppers cost as little as $5 while fancier versions--some are even gold-plated--can run much higher.

Another New Year’s-related gift, and one for which we are going to splash out in our celebrations, are “millennium” sparkling-wine glasses.

The cheapest--and the one we will give our guests on New Year’s Eve--is nothing more than a fluted bowl on top of a pressed-glass stem carrying the numerals “2000.” At about $6 a throw, they will commemorate this New Year’s Eve’s debaucheries.

Your local wine store and any department store with more than a minimal glassware selection will have a variety of “2000” glasses ranging in price. This is the year of the “champagne” glass, and never was there a broader (and tackier) set of choices. Not to worry: If you choose the tackiest of them, you will have the Olkens for company.

Of course, a bottle of bubbly would be much appreciated this year as well. I view gift bubblies as a different breed of cat from those I might put in my cellar.

This year, Korbel’s “Brut Rose” particularly fascinates me in its all-too-garish bottle dedicated to Whoopi Goldberg. Don’t get me wrong; she is a big family favorite. But “garish” is not. Yet here is a $13 (full retail, but you can probably find it for less), highly decorated bottle of pretty good sparkling wine for someone with a sense of humor.

If your tastes run a little higher up the ladder, there is always the hand-painted bottle called “Fleur de Champagne” from the French producer Perrier-Jouet. This superb bubbly will set you back closer to $100, so look for the gift packs that contain two hand-painted flutes.

Not all our wine-oriented gifts this year are millennium-related, of course. I married into a family with the wonderful holiday tradition of giving the patriarch a bottle of very fine whiskey on Christmas Day. This year, my father-in-law is going to receive one of those single-malt Scotches that have been aged in and taken on the character of wine barrels.

I absolutely adore the limited production Bowmore “Claret” whisky that has just appeared on the market. The Los Angeles area is going to receive a fair share of the distribution, and it will also be available through duty-free stores both at LAX and in the downtown area.

Bowmore is an Islay malt, which means that it will be peaty, smoky and slightly “sea-side” in character. In this case, it has taken its “12 Year Old” vintage and aged it a couple of additional years in barrels acquired from a Bordeaux winery. The result is bottled at cask strength of 112 proof and needs to be cut with a little water to allow the wonderful “winey” notes to blossom alongside those of the whisky.

It is a fragrant, rich, complex bottling. I drink mine from a wine glass because traditional wine glasses are designed to capture aromas, and this is one whisky that can be sniffed and enjoyed just for its stunning display of aromatic range and beauty.

I also very much like the Port Wood-aged whiskeys from Glenmorangie (12 years old) and Balvenie (21 years old and, oh, so smooth). The Balvenie, about $80 a pop, had been my “celebration” whisky, until I tasted the Bowmore Claret. Yet the Balvenie, being a “21,” has all of the refined, silky and viscous qualities of a long-aged whisky as well as the added richness from the Port.

Yet another wine-oriented gift I will give this holiday season is a bottle of the best vermouth I have ever tasted. Since most vermouths are made from the leftovers of the winemaking process, it is understandable that martini drinkers like my wife insist on just “holding the vermouth near the gin.”

But a bottle of VYA Vermouth (about $16) from the inventive hand of dessert wine producer Andy Quady has forever transformed her martinis.

VYA is fruity and fragrant in a way that no other vermouth on the market comes close to achieving, and it adds wonderful highlights of dried flowers and sweet spices to the juniper-infused gin. It is produced in limited quantities but is available in wine specialty shops like Wally’s in Westwood, Hi-Time Wine Cellars in Costa Mesa and the Wine House in West Los Angeles. VYA is a great gift for any martini drinker on your list.

Finally, I want to suggest two more pieces of wine gadgetry. I have one and use it constantly, and I want the other desperately (and hope my wife is reading this column). Both are corkscrews, but they couldn’t be more different.

The mundane, everyday item is from a company called Screwpull, and it is nothing more than an ordinary worm-type opener that has been hardened, had its diameter widened a bit to grip more of the cork and coated with Teflon to make it insert more easily. It is an absolute necessity in extracting difficult corks, but its real value is that it is a joy to use.

It comes in several models priced at about $20 and in a mechanical levered model at $150 to $200. I have not yet graduated to the expensive models and find the less expensive versions are great bargains merely because they work exactly the way they are supposed to.

But if I had my druthers this holiday season, I would find a Chateau Laguiole corkscrew in the stocking. These rare wood, impeccably finished items are not the least bit practical (buy a Screwpull if you want practicality), but they are the most gorgeous pieces of handwork you can imagine. They cost about $100 and are available at some fine wine stores and from the Wine Enthusiast catalog (800) 377-3330.