A wine advent calendar is one of the few gifts that solves the hardest problem in gifting drinks: you do not have to guess what someone likes, because the point of the gift is finding out. This guide covers the three calendar formats In Good Taste sells, who each one suits, and how to combine them without overspending.
All three come from In Good Taste, whose countdown format is built around 24 nights, 24 mini bottles and wines sourced from France, Italy, Napa, Sonoma and Paso Robles.
The three wine advent calendar formats
Option 1: the classic wine countdown
The original format is the one most people picture. Twenty-four nights, twenty-four mini bottles, twenty-four opportunities to sip and explore your way through premium wines from those five regions.
What makes it a good gift rather than just a novelty is the range behind it. In Good Taste's in-house labels cover sparkling, rose, aromatic whites and structured reds, so a recipient works through genuinely different styles rather than 24 variations on the same easy red.
Give it to: the person who says they "don't really know wine" and means it as an apology. This format turns that gap into an activity.
Option 2: the Wine Cocktail Advent Calendar
This is the least predictable of the three and the most fun to open. It holds 24 ready-to-drink wine-based cocktails, curated to delight from the first door to the last.
The spread runs from a cult-classic Espresso Martini to a tropical Pina Colada, which tells you the intent: this is a variety format, not a themed one. Nothing needs mixing, measuring or a shaker, which matters more than it sounds when the gift is aimed at someone who likes cocktails but does not want a home bar project.
In Good Taste describes it as a first-year release with very limited availability, so this is not a calendar to leave until the last week of the season.
Give it to: the friend who orders cocktails rather than wine, or anyone who would find 24 straight nights of tasting notes a bit earnest.
Option 3: the Food Pairing Advent Calendar
This is the cleverest product in the lineup and the one that needs the clearest explanation, because it does not contain wine.
It is 24 nights of expertly curated snacks, handpicked to make every glass taste better. Each door reveals a carefully chosen bite: truffle potato chips, Greek olives, dark chocolate, artisan crackers. The brand frames it as turning every evening into a tasting experience worth looking forward to, and it is also a first-year release with limited quantity.
Wines are not included. In Good Taste is explicit that you add a Wine Advent Calendar to your cart for the ultimate pairing experience.
Give it to: someone who already has wine handled. A friend with a full rack does not need another bottle, but almost nobody has good pairing snacks on hand.
How to combine calendars without overspending
The obvious move is buying two calendars for one person, and it is a real upgrade rather than a marketing upsell, because the snacks are chosen to work with the pours. But there are cheaper ways to get most of the effect.
- Split it across two people. Give the wine calendar to one half of a couple and the food calendar to the other. They open both at the same table anyway.
- Pair a calendar with one 750ml bottle. A single standout bottle, such as Crimson Rosella Sparkling Shiraz with its blackberry jam and cracked black pepper finish, makes a complete gift alongside the food calendar.
- Go food-only for a host gift. Truffle potato chips, Greek olives and artisan crackers are a strong arrival gift on their own, with no assumptions made about what the host drinks.
One practical detail helps here: orders placed under the same email are combined and shipped together, so building a multi-item gift does not automatically mean multiple deliveries arriving on different days.
What the recipient actually tastes
It helps to know what is behind the doors, because "24 mini bottles" tells you the format but not the experience.
The in-house labels span a wide stylistic range, and that spread is what makes a countdown hold attention for a full month. On the sparkling side there is La Pluma Sparkling Brut, dry and focused with green apple, lemon peel and a chalky minerality, and Andiamo Summer Sparkling, fizzy and light on its feet with stone fruit and a whisper of citrus.
The whites move around just as much. La Pluma Gewurztraminer arrives with rose petal, lychee and warm spice. Fortune Favors Vermentino is snappy lime zest and green apple with a herbal, almost fennel-like edge. La Pluma Chenin Blanc sits between them, with ripe pear, golden apple and a calming chamomile note.
The reds cover both ends. Stealing Thunder Pinot Noir is silky and medium-bodied with red cherry and dried rose petal, while Wild Child Mourvedre is inky and tannic with black olive, leather and a whisper of smoke. Andiamo Montepulciano lands in the middle: ripe blackberry, warm spice, built for long evenings.
A recipient working through that lineup ends the month with an actual opinion, which is the entire point of the gift.
Timing, availability and the fine print
Calendars are a seasonal product with a hard deadline, and this range has two extra wrinkles worth planning around.
Both the Food Pairing and Wine Cocktail calendars are described as first-year releases with limited quantity, and the brand uses the standard once-it-is-gone framing. That is not a small detail when the gift only works if it arrives before the countdown starts.
Separately, the Advent 750ml bottles are listed as beginning shipping in July 2026, and several carry a Member Exclusive note asking you to log in and check out with big bottles all summer long. If you are adding full-size bottles to a calendar order, read the individual product page rather than assuming everything ships together on the same timeline.
If you are assembling a broader gift haul, our roundup of gourmet food and drink gifts you can ship covers what pairs well alongside a calendar.
Matching the calendar to the recipient
Who a wine calendar is wrong for
Worth saying plainly: this is not a universal gift.
Someone with a very fixed palate, who buys the same bottle every week and enjoys that, will not get much from 24 nights of variety. They are better served by a single 750ml bottle from a style they already like, and the range makes that easy: Mr. B Cabernet Sauvignon for structure, Stealing Thunder Pinot Noir for silkiness, La Pluma Sparkling Brut for something dry and celebratory.
A calendar is also a commitment of 24 evenings. For anyone traveling through the season, the food calendar or a bottle pairing travels better than a countdown that has to be opened daily.
Gift-giving shortcuts by recipient
- The curious beginner: wine calendar, no additions. The format does the work.
- The cocktail drinker: Wine Cocktail Advent Calendar. Espresso Martini to Pina Colada with nothing to mix.
- The person with a full wine rack: Food Pairing Advent Calendar on its own.
- A couple: one wine calendar plus one food calendar, which is the pairing experience the brand designed.
- A host or hostess: food calendar, or one sparkling bottle such as La Pluma Sparkling Rose with its wild strawberry and raspberry nose.
For smaller add-ons to round out a package, our stocking stuffer picks pair well with any of the above without competing for attention.
The bottom line
The wine calendar is the classic and the safest choice. The cocktail calendar is the most immediately enjoyable. The food calendar is the most thoughtful, and the only one that assumes the recipient already has good wine.
All three are limited seasonal releases, which makes ordering early the single most useful piece of advice in this guide. Compare the current calendars and 750ml bottles at In Good Taste.