Chateau Margaux, and the trunk to go round it

A first-growth Bordeaux and a trunk built to deserve it. Fewer lines than the other trunks because the bottle is a serious share of the price, and everything else in it has been chosen to be worth opening on the same evening.

Who it is for

A trunk is a corporate gift or a family gift, not a personal one – it is too big for one person and it is meant to be unpacked in front of people. It is also the only hamper we make that is worth keeping after it is empty: the trunk is a real wicker trunk with a hinged lid and it lasts. The wine is chosen for the food in the hamper rather than picked off a price list, and it is a grower’s bottle rather than a supermarket label.

Who makes it

Clos Saint Sozy work in the Lot, in the south-west of France, in the traditional way. Conservas Virto have been canning in Navarra since 1927 and still do most of it by hand. Acetaia Castelli have been ageing in Modena under IGP for four generations. Hedene are a Paris house who buy single-origin from named beekeepers rather than blending. We import these ourselves rather than buying through a wholesaler, which is why a hamper of this size costs what it does rather than twice as much. You can read how the protected designations work at the European Commission.

Packing and delivery

We pack this one in a 22-inch wicker trunk hamper with a hinged lid, finished with raffia and a ribbon, and it travels inside its own heavy outer carton so the trunk itself arrives unmarked. It is heavy – two people to lift it comfortably. Everything is packed by hand in Worcestershire on the day it leaves us. Order early for Christmas: trunks are made to order and December slots fill from the middle of November. We deliver across mainland UK and can send it straight to the recipient with a handwritten card and no prices anywhere in the parcel. See the rest of the range on our Christmas gift hampers page.

How to serve it

Take the cheese out of the fridge a good hour before anyone eats it – cold cheese tastes of very little. Cut the soft cheeses in wedges from the centre and leave the hard ones whole with a knife beside them. Foie gras and terrine want to come out of the fridge fifteen minutes beforehand and be cut with a warm blade, onto toast or brioche rather than a cracker that fights them. Caviar cold, in the tin, set into ice – and never with a metal spoon, which taints it. Truffle goes on last and over something plain and hot: black truffle stands up to heat, white truffle does not, so keep the white for finishing.