The other day a vegetarian friend of mine joined us for dinner and I struggled to choose the wine. The reason for this difficult wine choice was because of the world’s most famous wine and food guideline “Red wine with red meat”.

If this guideline is rigid and always holds true, how do you pair red wines with meatless meals?

According to Mary Ross , the answer to the question lays in the new ways in which wine is produced.

In the 1980s (a minute ago in wine’s timeline), winegrowers adopted a philosophy in their harvest that created a brand new style of red wine and enjoyment thereof.

For millennia, growers strategized harvest dates based on ripeness of the grape’s sugary pulp, pulling their crop from vines as soon as possible before hungry birds, winter frost or other marauders wrecked their livelihoods.

As bird netting, portable heaters and other man-made protections began to stave off disaster, growers extended harvest, ripening grape pulp as well as the seeds, skins and stems that contain tannin.

Tannin provides red wine’s more-or-less pleasing grip on the palate not unlike the enjoyable astringency of good cup of black coffee, another tannin-rich beverage. Because tannin binds with fat and protein, a mouthful of red meat softens red wine’s grip, just as creams softens a cup of coffee.

Traditionally, red wine’s hard, green tannin required years of bottle age and/or a solid slab of meat for mealtime enjoyment. Today’s softer, ripe tannin allows many reds to be enjoyed young, with recipes more in line with millions of resolutions to reduce fat from the diet.

Pair ripe-tannin reds ,like the Arniston Bay Shiraz, with “brown” vegetables (such as mushrooms, potatoes, onions or eggplant) and rich legumes in hearty preparations including nuts, cheese and olives for delicious meatless matches.

Blue cheese-stuffed mushrooms will go well with Pinot Noirs while the Arniston Bay Shiraz will be perfect with a Lentil, spinach and feta cheese casserole.

Read more one www.dailyherald.com

The wine:

Edith Venter initiated a Ladies Day at the SA Tennis Open. The event  turned out to be a really fashionable and enjoyable day with proceeds raised for the Starfish Greathearts Foundation.

The iconic South African lifestyle wine brand , Arniston Bay ,  sponsored some bubbly and Rosé wines at this event and we were delighted to be involved in such a great and honourable event.

View more photos on our Flickr page

You’ve just swallowed a delicious bite of a fiery vindaloo, or maybe a five-pepper Thai curry, Jamaican jerk chicken, or something spicy from Sichuan. Your cheeks are red, drops of sweat are breaking out on your brow, and your mouth tingles with a tasty fire.

Now, what to drink?

Actually, if you’re seeking to extinguish the fire, dairy works best. Indian yogurt lassi, Thai iced tea and Vietnamese coffee with a dollop of condensed milk all probably evolved to meet this need. But who wants a glass of Grade A when there’s wine or beer to be had?

Beer, indeed, is a viable option, with its relatively low alcohol to allow for quaffing in quenching gulps, and its bubbly carbonation to scrub one’s taste buds clean.

Wine poses a problem, at least in my culinary universe, because its relatively high alcohol levels make it less than prudent to gulp it in quantity. Worse, you’re literally pouring alcohol on a burn, and that hurts.

If wine’s your choice, look for relatively low-alcohol items, ideally with a bit of residual sweetness (many Rieslings and some Chenin Blancs fill this bill); or crisp, bubbly carbonation that offers some of the same “palate-scrubbing” effect as a beer.

One such a Bubbly that can do wonders for a mouth on fire is  the Arniston Bay Charmat Rose sparkling wine.  This Charmat Rose wine offers a beautifully delicate ensemble of forest berry rose petal violets white cherry and peach aromas on the nose with zesty tropical fruit flavours and fresh crisp bubbles on the finish and palate.

From: www.wineloverspage.com

The wine:

In the past, people relied mainly on traditional media to gain access to a vast array of topics. The worldwide blogosphere has revolutionised communication and has opened up channels for debate; news; entertainment; and general socialising. Blogs offer a more personal communication and interaction with the blog (information portal) and its consumer.

Arniston Bay wines will be sponsoring this event and will afford food bloggers the opportunity to taste the wines and best decide which of the wines to pair their foods with.

the company of wine people’s Executive Director of Sales and Marketing, Chris O’Shea, says: “We are proud to be sponsoring our easy-drinking lifestyle wine for this occasion. It aligns perfectly with our brand essence.”

Guests attending the food bloggers conference will have the opportunity to sample relaxation at its best with the Arniston Bay varietals such as the Sparkling Rosé; Charmat; Chenin Blanc Chardonnay; Cabernet Merlot; Shiraz Pinotage; and the Pinotage Rosé.

“We are very excited to introduce the full range of Arniston Bay wines to the food bloggers and are hoping that the success of the conference will be extended to Johannesburg and Cape Town, although cyber space may have no limits having an actual event for the bloggers to attend is a great way for them to extend their knowledge and get to meet their fellow bloggers.”

South Africa has seen a remarkable usage increase in the local blogosphere, with the number of active blogs increasing from 600 in December 2006 to 3 789 a year later in December 2007. These statistics are a result of a 2008/2009 survey of Online Media in South Africa, conducted by media researcher and commentator, Arthur Goldstuck of World Wide Worx and the Online Publishers Association.

With South African internet services set to expand, consumers are set to have more connectivity choice than ever before. South Africa’s Internet population is expected to grow as much in the next five years as it has in the 15 years since the internet became commercially available in South Africa, according to the latest World Wide Worx Internet Access in South Africa 2008 Report.

The increased growth rate is expected to continue for the next five years, taking the internet user population to the nine-million mark by 2014.

These statistics will have a direct effect on how prevalent blogging is in South Africa and how it will continue to grow year-on-year, Food24 is South Africa’s biggest online food community and will be using this conference as an opportunity to meet their sometimes anonymous members and offer advice on how to make a blog successful.

The first food bloggers conference will be taking place on Sunday, 21 March in Cape Town at the Giggling Gourmet’s Cooks Playground.

The conference will include talks by guest speakers such as; award-winning blogger, Jeanne Horak-Druiff; the talented food styler, Nina Timm; Editor-in-chief of Women24, Food24 and Parent24, Sam Wilson; and professional Book Editor and Author of the blog Scruptuous SA, Jane-Anne Hobbs.

Tickets to the conference are R430 per person. For more information, click here.

5FM hosted an exclusive, by-invite-only Girls Night Out party in Cape Town as part of the popular Women’s Show.

Arniston Bay sponsored the wines to kick start the festivities, while 5FM’s Sureshnie hosted the party and guests were treated to a fashion show, a trend workshop, a hot set from 5FM’s female DJs and a live performance by Gang of Instrumentals.

Click here to see some photos of the event

Proving it’s worthiness of international and local award winning status, Arniston Bay has been named one of the top selling wines in the UK. Arniston Bay is the fourth biggest South African brand in the UK and has a 5.8% value share and 5.6% volume share in the South African category respectively.

In addition, a recent report conducted by market analysts AC Neilsen, highlights that Arniston Bay has had significant growth over the last 18 months with a year-on-year volume growth of 64% and value growth of 58%. [AC Neilsen Data MAT 23/01/10]

According to the company of wine peopleTM’s, Brand and Business Development Manager for the UK and Ireland, Barney Davis, this level of growth is currently ahead of that of the other wines in the South African category as a whole, and ahead of its closest competitors who hold the second and third positions in this category.

“We largely attribute the success of Arniston Bay and our other easy drinking wines, to the fact that we are continuously innovating through our variety of packaging alternatives, rigorous marketing and branding campaigns and ongoing research, which is conducted to establish what our consumers are looking for,” he says.

The success of Arniston Bay Original Range led to the launch of the Arniston Bay Reserve range, a premium range of wines for the more discerning wine drinker. The Reserve range offers loyal Arniston Bay supporters the chance to trade up to a more serious wine, and, according to Davis, has received positive feedback from consumers.

The Arniston Bay Original range was also updated recently with new screwcap closures and refreshed packaging for all varietals as part of the brand’s strategy to expand, innovate and meet consumer demand.

the company of wine people’s, Executive Director of Sales and Marketing, Chris O’Shea,  says: “We are very happy that we are able to share the carefree lifestyle that the Arniston Bay brand gives its drinkers with the UK market and we will continue to innovate and work towards moving into the number one spot of South African wines in the UK.”

South Africa has overtaken France to become the fourth largest selling country for wine in the UK.

Latest figures from market analysts AC Nielsen show sales of South African wines have overtaken French for the first time in the UK wine market.

South African wine sales grew 20 percent, by volume, to 12,270,000 9L cases, compared to a decline in French wine sales of 12 percent, to 12,266,000 9L cases; South Africa is now the fourth largest selling country for wine in the UK.

Although the South African wine industry is over 350 years old, it has been in its recent history that exports have seen significant growth. In 1994, when Nelson Mandela was elected president and the country became a peaceful democracy, the industry exported around 50million litres of wine, globally; by the close of 2009 exports had increased eightfold, reaching almost 400million litres.

Commenting on the news Jo Mason, UK market manager, Wines of South Africa, said: “This is a momentous occasion for the South African wine industry, which is relatively young in terms of the global export market. In 1994 our producers wouldn’t have dreamt of selling more wine to the UK than France, but now the wine landscape has changed completely. UK consumers no longer default to European wine and the quality of wine from South Africa is up there with the best in the world. This achievement has coincided with a year where South Africa is thrust into the spotlight, as host nation for the FIFA World Cup, which should ensure continued success for our wines, as visitors flock to the Cape or crack open a bottle while watching the game.”

Read more on www.wosa.co.za

Arniston Bay Brand News.

Arniston Bay is one of wine brands which contributed considerably to the rise of South African wines.  This popularity of this brand as increased immensely in the past few year especially in the UK market.

South African wine companies dominated the results of the inaugural Drinks Business Green Awards in London.

Dr Paul Cluver, founder of Paul Cluver Wines, received arguably the highest accolade, winning the Lifetime Achievement Award, for his ongoing, visionary approach to conservation and exemplary environmental credentials. Dr. Cluver is also the Chairman of the company of wine people ^TM ’s board of directors.

Inge Kotzé of the Biodiversity & Wine Initiative was awarded the Personality Award and Backsberg walked away with the Sustainability Award. Paul Cluver Wines and Stellar Organics were named runners-up in the Ethical Award category, giving South Africa a notable presence in four of the eight award results.

The Drinks Business Green Awards are designed to highlight and reward leadership on environment, sustainability and climate change, by drinks companies worldwide.

Commenting on the success, Su Birch, CEO of Wines of South Africa (WOSA) said: “This is a significant moment in the development of South Africa’s green credentials and we are delighted so many of our champions are being recognised for the substantial contributions they are making to the advancement of sustainable practice in the wine industry.  South Africa is a leader in production integrity and is committed to working in harmony with the environment to ensure long-term sustainable and profitable growth.”

Read more on wosa.co.za

Arniston Bay Brand News:

One of the leading South African brand in the UK, Arniston Bay,  has also introduced environmentally friendly initiatives. Arniston Bay introduced the environmentally friendly wine pouch and has also reduced the weight of wine bottles in some of our ranges.

We congratulate and salute our fellow South Africans , within the wine industry,  in their efforts to save our environment.

Congratulations to Joanita Christie and Derek Mitchell

Their Facebook comments were judge to be the best and they have each won an Arniston Bay wine hamper.

We are giving away Arniston Bay wine prizes for the best quote / comment on our Facebook page.

All you have to do is become a Facebook fan and leave a comment / quote on the page.