Champagne has been a popular drink for centuries. Fine champagne can delight the senses while providing a perfect complement to a meal, dessert or evening. Not surprisingly, due its popularity and great reputation, champagne is considered to be a popular gift for the holiday seasons—Christmas, in particular, but also Valentine’s Day and New Year’s presents. But does champagne really make a good gift, for the holidays or otherwise?

The answer largely depends on two things: your personal budget and the intended recipient of the gift. It’s important to consider the person that you are gifting the present to, first and foremost: do they actually enjoy, drink or use champagne? There is no use in buying a fine champagne, even one that receives rave reviews, if the person you are buying it for does not enjoy champagne. Always remember to do a little research about the recipient before deciding to gift them champagne, or any type of food or beverage.

The budget, of course, is typically the biggest concern when it comes to any sort of present. With champagne, the budget may actually affect the quality of your champagne gift—a cheap, $10 champagne might be seen as a thoughtless or last-minute gift, probably picked up at a grocery store on the way to a holiday party. And cheap champagne, with some exceptions, rarely delights the taste buds—if it gets used at all.

This doesn’t mean that you need to spend $100 on an expensive bottle of champagne, of course. There are budget options which have a good reputation and good taste which typically run in the range of $35-$40, well below the price champagnes but miles ahead in taste than cheap, $10 bottles that sometimes sneak their way into gift baskets.

Another thing to consider if you are thinking about gifting champagne is to think about the occasion and, if applicable, the nature of the present. Are you gifting someone champagne that you intend to be used at a party, dinner or gathering—in other words, is the champagne your “pot-luck” gift?

Or is the champagne itself a present for Christmas, a birthday, a holiday or other occasion? If the champagne itself is a present on Christmas, a birthday or so on, you may want to consider purchasing inexpensive “extras” such as bars or chocolate or other treats to help round out your present.