Last week I wrote about Crushpad's new TinyBottles. We may be looking at a new trend here because a new companyTasting Room has also recently unveiled their sample-sized wine bottle tasting kits. While Crushpad's bottles are straight tubes the Tasting Room ones are mini wine bottles. The first winemaker to use the new systems is Seghesio Vineyards which is shipping packaged tasting kits with 50ml glass bottles. The first packages were delivered to a select group of their customers and featured the 2007 Cortina Zinfandel, 2007 San Lorenzo Zinfandel, 2007 Old Vine Zinfandel, 2006 Omaggio, 2005 San Lorenzo Petite Syrah and the 2004 Aglianico. These tasting kits are also being shipped through the wholesale channel for wine presentations to retail and restaurant accounts. In a press release, Peter Seghesio, CEO and winegrower, Seghesio Vineyards, said that he believes the new small bottles will be "revolutionary for the wine industry."

In Wines and Vines, TastingRoom's founder, Tim Bucher, says his format better preserves the wine and is more popular with consumers. Hiis company spent a year developing the new, patent-pending T.A.S.T.E. Technology (Total Anaerobic Sample Transfer Environment) which preserves wine integrity. In this process wine is transferred from larger bottles into smaller bottles in a sealed, zero-oxygen chamber. Although Seghesio is the first winemaker involved it is expected that a variety of other wineries will jump on board.

For the holiday season Montblanc presents a new jewelry item - these gold, diamond studded rings shaped like the Montblanc star emblem (you usually see it in white against black). The specific model is the Montblanc 4810 ring collection. The rings are quite clever and come in three thicknesses with varying amounts of diamonds. Materials include 18k white, yellow, or red gold - looking nice in each. Montblanc has been really trying to emphasis its jewelry and accessory collection over the last few years to bolster its already popular watch, and of course pen collections.

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.

In our book Alexander McQueen can do no wrong (as long as he stays out of Target). His 2010 S/S show wowed us with a mix of reptilian sea mammals, created with computer generated prints. Our favorite piece, however, from the Lady Gaga-inspired show, was this hot little leather gladiator skirt. Leave it to McQueen to get us off of gladiator sandals once and for all, and wow us again with his apocalyptic couture. It's the perfect gift for your little vixen.

Check out a less-expensive option after the jump.

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Edra Blixseth's sell-off continues. The former owner of the Yellowstone Club and survivor of one of the nastiest divorces we've seen in recent years has auctioned off furniture, is selling her real estate and now some of her jewelry is up for sale. The Desert Sun reports that The Estate Jewelry Collection in Palm Desert is auctioning off 50 pieces of fine jewelry owned by Edra Blixseth. Blixseth, who filed for bankruptcy back in March, lives in the Coachella Valley. Pieces up for sale include a 44.3-carat tanzanite pendant set in 18K white gold with 107 round brilliant cut diamonds weighing approximately 1.25 carats. Other pieces include a pair of diamond earrings and a seed pearl necklace with a 14-karat gold dragon clasp with emerald eyes and 91 single-cut diamonds. Interested bidders must register at the store with a credit card or other bank security to receive an anonymous bidding number to use for bidding on any piece. The auction ends at 4 p.m. Monday.

Here's a very stylish but also relatively affordable gift for the handbag-loving lady on your shopping list this Christmas: the DKNY Zebra Print Purse Set. A nice way to give something trendy like animal print without asking them to commit to it 100% as the set allows for the little purses to be easily be tucked inside something larger. Calf's hair exterior in black and white zebra print, navy blue lined interior, and silvertone hardware all packaged together in a gold DKNY logo ribbon.

The large purse measures 26cm x 16cm x 5cm and has a chain shoulder strap, the medium measures 20cm x 13cm x 4cm, and the small is a handy 17cm x 10cm x 3cm. All three for £129.

Winter can be a bitter, miserable season if you're not equipped with the right essentials to stay warm. Coat? Check. Gloves? Check. Scarf? Sure, check. Hat? No way, not on this hairdo!

Don't freeze, try earmuffs! Often the butt of jokes because they've been known to look a little silly, investing in a stylish pair that you love can not only spare you some freezingly unpleasant winter outings but also help you make a fashion statement. Shown here are Fox Unlimited Fox-Fur Earmuffs ($75) and check out more of our picks in the gallery below.

Although snow and ice might not be the first things that come to mind when considering a spa vacation they're becoming more common as Nordic spas gain popularity with people looking to get their relaxation and invigoration fix during the cold winter months.

Nordic spas offer services based on the ancient European tradition of going from hot to cold (usually a hot sauna to a brisk cool dip) and back again. The therapy is said to help the body clear out toxins, boost immunity, stimulate circulation, and reduce stress. Sound interesting? Well it seems all the best Nordic spas are in Canada and here a few to get your search started.

Balnea Spa sits on 400 acres of nature preserve about an hour and a half outside of Montreal. The vibe is contemporary and a little urban, although expansive mountain views and a lakeside sauna make for plenty of opportunities to relax. You can even spend time in their winter-only igloo if you're so inclined.

The Scandinave Spa in Whistler is nestled in the northern woods and scheduled to open to the public next month (January 22, 2010). A Finnish-style sauna is supplemented with other options in individual glass and wooden buildings all connected by a series of meandering (and heated from below so you don't have to trudge through the snow) pathways. The feature list also includes open-air hot pools, complete with waterfalls.

Le Nordik is unique in that in addition to a Finnish sauna, four outdoor pools, several hot tubs, and a steam bath it offers a full pool-side restaurant that serves healthy fare like fish and veggie wraps, local artisan cheeses, and wine.

Many a gift is made that much more compelling by the addition of a bottle of wine. So when the opportunity arises to give a gift that is sprinkled with phrases like "private" and "VIP" and "Napa," and that gift comes with not one, but three, bottles of distinguished ambrosia -- well, it begins to look like a little bit of attention might be in order.

Wine.com's By Appointment Only will stuff your mailbox with a package of cabernets from Quintessa, Chateau Montelena, and Caymus. Yet those are merely to get you in the mood. The feature delight comes the next time you visit Napa: private appointments at each vineyard, during which you'll tour the facilities, sample as-yet-unbottled selections straight from the barrels -- so bring a straw -- and if Madame Nature plays fair, a tour of the vineyard

These are no rush jobs, either: each group is just four people, and each visitation lasts up to 3 hours. Which means that when you've finished your preliminary samplings and you want to know what makes Caymus so subtly capricious, Chateau Montelena so delicately moving, and Quintessa so.. just plain divine, By Appointment Only is your peek behind their veils. Oh, and priced at $500, it also has a superb finish: it's good until the summer of 2011.

We first looked at this home over a year ago but Atlanta Falcons tight end Tony Gonzalez and his wife, October are trying again to sell their Manhattan Beach, California home. Last year the home was listed at $3.999 million but now it's on the market for $3.6 million and Gonzalez has sweetened the deal by adding a new Porsche 911 Cabriolet within 10 days of the close of escrow if he receives a full-price offer.

Gonzalez bought the four-bedroom home in 2003 for $1.575 million. He tells the LA Times that he gutted the house when he bought it and fully renovated. The home's best selling feature is a huge roof deck with a barbecue area, shaded lounger and a hot tub. The home is a couple blocks from the ocean and so the deck has some truly fantastic views. Inside the home there are two living rooms, dining room, a bar and a master bedroom suite with a fireplace and patio. There is a four-car garage, the home of your new Porsche.

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Volna is a luxury watch brand with an interesting slogan - "Russian Heritage Swiss Made." As a luxury watch maker their theme is giant paradox as the Swiss concept of luxury and Soviet Russia are concepts that clash. But ignore that little issue for a moment and you have a unique design niche for a luxury watch maker. In the red tinted vision of old Soviet era military technology, is a brand that celebrates the look and feel of that style of military nationality. In a country where often times the military elite got paid in medals versus money, their military equipment at least needed to have an impressive look and feel.

Volna watches are all about attempting to rethink and recreate that image. The brand's newest watch is the Typhoon Siberia SHCI - a cool if not gimmicky means of adding something fun to the luxury sports chronograph watch segment. The name of the watch sounds like a foreign translation of a Hollywood action movie that might be called "Siberian Storm" - that somehow ends up "Typhoon Siberia." This new model is all in a very good type of grade 5 (G5) titanium and has a unique system that Volna has developed. Strap is rubber.

An irony of many chronograph diving watches is that operating the chronograph too deep underwater will damage the watch by letting water in. So Volna has developed a "Security Hand Chronograph Indicator" (SHCI) that displays a message on the dial of whether or not the chronograph is locked or unlocked for use. Locking it is done vial a turning lever located on the crown.

The watch case is 46.5mm wide and water resistant to 300 meters. There is a propeller engraved into the caseback and the crown. The dial is in black with decorative satin finished ruthenium plates and either red or black on black numerals and hands. Inside the watch is a Swiss Automatic movement that is likely a modified ETA. There are two versions of the watch (red on black or black on black dials), with limited editions of 125 pieces each. Not too sure about price, but it is over $10,000 per watch.

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.