Rather than presenting someone with a plain bottle of wine as a gift, take the time to wrap it to make the gift look more appealing. The gift-wrapping techniques also work on other types of bottle gifts, including different types of alcoholic or nonalcoholic beverages, fancy olive oils or herb-infused oils, or even a message in a bottle. One strategy involves wrapping the bottle with fabric or paper and holding that in place with a ribbon, whereas the other wraps the entire bottle in a long piece of ribbon.

Place the bottle on its side on a piece of fabric, tea towel, cloth napkin or decorative paper. Align the bottom of the bottle with the edge of the material. The top edge of the material can either come up to where the bottle tapers for a casual look or extend at least two inches past the top of the bottle for a more refined look.

Roll the bottle in the material until the bottle is wrapped at least once around. It is OK if the material goes around the bottle more than once. Pin or tape the material up the edge to secure the cloth.

Secure and fold the bottom of the material, as if you were wrapping a box, with tape, a straight pin or a safety pin.

Tie a piece of ribbon around the neck of the bottle or around the material just above the top of the bottle, depending on the desired look. Tie the ends of the ribbon into a decorative bow.

Choose a ribbon that is at least an inch wide.

Set the bottle on a hard surface. You will not wrap the bottom of the bottle.

Place a square of double-stick tape on the back side of the end of the ribbon. Stick the ribbon to the bottle at its bottom edge.

Wrap the ribbon around the bottle once, until you get to where you began. Secure the ribbon with a piece of double-stick tape.

Wrap the ribbon around the bottle, spiraling upward. Each spiral should slightly overlap the previous one so you cannot see the bottle between the ribbon spirals. Secure the ribbon to the bottle with double-stick tape about every two times around.

Cut the ribbon when you have reached the top of the bottle and hold the end in place with double-stick tape.

Tie a piece of ribbon, either the same kind or a complementary color, in a bow around the neck of the bottle.