In the romantic month that is upon us, it’s essential to embrace our senses. Walking through a market, we are overwhelmed by the smell of flowers, brand new teddy –bears and helium filled plastic hearts.

How to truly appreciate ones senses, is to pair the two most important things in life – Wine and Chocolate. Some might think the pairing should be handled only by experts, but it’s easy and fun to do it yourself.

So, if you want a quick escape from this month’s busy festivities and do a wine and chocolate pairing from the comfort of your own home, here’s what you do.

Firstly keep in mind, you won’t necessarily find the perfect matches straight away, but that’s the best part. You have to keep on experimenting, which means more wine and chocolate.  A general tip is to match lighter chocolate with lighter-bodied wines and the stronger the chocolate, go with a more full-bodied wine.

Here are a few simple hints to get you started.

Try a Sherry with a nice buttery white chocolate.

A Pinot Noir or the medium bodied Arniston Bay Merlot will compliment milk chocolate, a creamy mousse or even a chocolate accented cheesecake.

Muscats do wonders with mild milk chocolates.

The Arnsiton Bay Cabernet Sauvignon Arnsiton Bay Cabernet Sauvignon is a marvelous match with dark chocolate.

To end things off, appreciate a well aged Port with a dark chocolate dessert or a truffle.

That’s the basics. So invite someone over, get creative and enjoy your pallet.

Only for Arniston Bay lovers in the Western Cape, South Africa

Ingredients
- 200g digestive biscuits
-90g butter, melted

Filling
- 15ml gelatine
- 60ml water
- 500g cream cheese
- 85ml castor sugar
- Finely grated rind and juice of 1 lemon
- 125ml sparkling wine
(the Arniston Bay Brut Sparkling Wine is ideal)
- 250ml cream, lightly whipped
- 1 punnet of cherries, washed, retaining stalks
- Sugar
- Icing sugar

Method
- Crush the biscuits and combine with butter.
- Press into base of a 20cm, loose-bottomed cake pan sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.
- Refrigerate.
- Sprinkle gelatine over water and set aside to form a thick cake.
- In a mixing bowl, beat cheese and castor sugar together. Add rind, juice and sparkling wine and beat again.
- Place gelatine in microwave on medium for 1 minute. Pouring from a height, add to cheese mixture and then stir through the cream.
- Pour into biscuit base, cover and refrigerate for three hours.
- Just before serving, stone a handful of cherries.
- Place in food processor with 60ml sugar, 100ml warm water and 15ml honey. Process till you have a chunky sauce.
- Use remaining cherries to decorate the top of the cheesecake.
- Drizzle over the cooled sauce and sift over some icing sugar and serve.

Source: The Times

December is commonly associated with summer, holidays and an abundance of festivities all leading to an increase in opportunities to socialise. It’s also often the time that people tend to throw caution to the wind and indulge themselves.

From cocktails overlooking the beach to a couple of beers at the braai, alcohol consumption during the December season generally increases. While everyone deserves the opportunity to occasionally let their hair down, that doesn’t mean having to endure the often negative consequences.of overindulging.

So when partaking in the celebrations take note of the following useful tips from the Industry Association for Responsible Alcohol Use (ARA).

Tips when drinking with friends and family:

• Pace your drinking consumption, it’s not a competition
• Avoid drinking with partners who are prone to aggressive behavior
• Always eat before drinking alcohol and try to eat while drinking – choose foods that are high in fat and carbohydrates, i.e. burger and chips
• Don’t swim when you’ve had alcohol
• Drinking on the beach is against the law and can be very dangerous, as can drinking
at the river or the dam for those who live inland

Take note of the following tips when drinking in a bar or restaurant:

• Avoid lifts from strangers, especially when intoxicated
• Make sure you know who pours your drink
• Don’t accept drinks from strangers
• Club together with your friends to hire a car or mini-bus with a driver – rather than pay
bail money for a night of fun
• Always keep the number of a taxi company on your cellphone and ensure that you
have enough money set aside in your wallet for this, should you know you are not in
a position to drive home.
• Make sure that someone always knows where you are

Arnsiton Bay Wines support all the efforts and campaigns from ARA (Association for Responsible Alcohol Use). Ensure this December is filled with only wonderful memories and no regrets.

Source: wine.co.za

South African wine website, wine.co.za has launched a great initiative. The campaign is calling on every South African living abroad to share a drop of sunshine with a local on 16 December.

We would love every South African out there to open up a bottle of South African wine,
and show your mates just how good our wine is – taste some sunshine, sunshine!

We have chosen the 16th December as it is a very special day for us South Africans, and it is right in the middle of the northern hemispheres winter…
just when they need a little bit of sunshine in their lives – so spread a little bit of our sunshine, sunshine!

Get a great bottle of South African wine and sit down quietly and taste it with your mates.
Let them taste some of our sunshine. And of course, you don’t have to stop there…you could even open up a second bottle and then not so quietly share some of our sunshine.

And for those ex-pats out there in the land of OZ, or down the south of America, they might not need the sunshine, but you have to agree…
they do need to taste some good wine for a change, so get them to taste what makes us shine.

Then, please take some pictures and videos, and show us all what you did by posting them on the social networks (#tastewinesunshine) and at wine.co.za

And please tell us at wine.co.za so that we can organise this again next year.

So sunshine, what great South African wine are you going to taste this year !

South Africans in the UK can share some of the amazing and extremely popular Arniston Bay Wines which has become a dominate wine brand in the UK market.

For some, chilling out may mean booking a camping site 20 km from the nearest village a year in advance. Or going into a Trappist monastery until the festive season is over.

But most people will have a more sociable time – either at home, visiting relatives, or at the seaside somewhere. Who knows, you might need to get back to the office in January to get some rest. In order to get the most out of your break , women24.com suggest that you try and avoid the following festive season stressors.

Guests galore. You have a big house, and over Christmas it fills up with aunties, grannies, nieces, uncles – you name it. Instead of looking after four people, you are now looking after twelve. This is no holiday for you, as you are the unofficial entertainment committee, the caterer, the conflict resolution specialist, and the local cleaner. If you live in a popular destination, you might have to put your foot down. Or at least put together a duty roster for the cooking and the cleaning. And, for heaven’s sake, don’t feel you have to be the unofficial tour guide. Take a day or two off and let the guests entertain themselves.

Feeding frenzy. Food, food, food. It’s all over during the Christmas season and it’s lying in wait for you everywhere, and we’re not talking about celery sticks either. It’s chips, cakes, cheese snacks, chocolates, to name but a few. And, after all, you’re on holiday. So why not? That’s fine, but just don’t get into a new habit. Most people end the festive season with quite a few kilos that were not there in November. Don’t become a festive season fatty.

Booze bonanza. From the office party to friends’ homes, to family barbecues – booze is no stranger to the festive season. And often, other people are paying for it. By all means have a beer or two, if you’re not driving, but don’t binge on booze. Drinking too much is something that carries its own punishment with it, a bit like eating that second helping of hot Indian curry. And do remember, that everyone likes you to have a drink or two, but nobody likes having a social embarrassment at their parties. Fall down drunk, or insult one of the other guests, and you can be sure you’ll be off the party list. Forever.

I’m so lonely. Some people wish everything could be a little quieter. Others wish for a break from the peace and quiet and they dream of the phone ringing or a horde of guests arriving. The secret is to arrange a few things in advance. Invite people for supper, get a friend to go with you to a movie, or organise a day or two away in a different place. Don’t wait until the festive season is upon you before doing something about your social calendar. It’s not going to happen by itself.

Exercise inertia. Most people give their exercise regimes a break during the festive season. It is, after all, the end of the year. Problem is, many people overindulge completely on the food front at the same time, and coupled with a fortnight of couch-potato-ism, your waistline might be expanding at the rate of knots. Go for a walk with the family, run along the beach, play volleyball. Do anything to burn up those extra calories. And get back into it early in the new year.

Credit card crisis. The last of the Big Spenders. If that describes you in the shopping centre with your Christmas bonus and your credit card, you’re obviously a sucker for all those Christmas ads. And you’re going to be stony broke in January, and depressed in February when the credit card statements start arriving. Point is that you can probably buy just as nice a present for R100 as you can for R200, or R400. You just need to plan it well. It’s the thought that counts, not the size of the present.

Sunburn stress. The sun in the southern hemisphere is vicious , and skin cancer is a real danger. And remember that the damage is cumulative. Burning yourself to a crisp or having a whimpering and sunburnt child on your hands, is no way to spend Christmas. Speak to your pharmacist and get a high-factor sunblock before you head for the beach. And speaking of the beach – watch out for bluebottles or pieces of broken glass in the sand.

Crowd control. Think of Christmas, and what many people see are teeming masses of people in a shopping centre, all of them with a mission, and accompanied by at least two unwilling and exhausted kids. It can be avoided – do your gift shopping in November and do a bulk grocery shop before 18 December. Milling crowds can be exhausting, and elicit everything but the Christmas spirit in you. In fact, it can bring on a bout of trolley rage.

Gift of the grab. Frantic last-minute gift-buying is a killer – not only don’t you get what you are looking for, you also spend a fortune on it. Rather than give unwanted and expensive presents, go for gift vouchers – at least people will appreciate them, even if they are not the most personal of offerings.

Family fest. Family. You get them, you don’t choose them. And never is it more obvious than at Christmas time when Uncle Freddy is holding forth on all his achievements, or Aunt Doris is slurring after her third beer. Or your cousin’s kids are running around screaming, chasing your poor cats. Then there are the endless questions about when you are going to tie the knot, have babies etc. Family get-togethers seldom do much for your self-esteem. Just repeat the mantra, “It will soon be over for another year.”

Arniston Bay has a wide wine range that will suit any palate for all the festive season occasions.

Source: women24.com

Know your limits:

Safe and healthy alcohol intake levels are 30g/day for men and 20g/day for women (women generally have less of the enzyme that helps break down alcohol in the body).

This means that one unit of alcohol a day is considered safe and healthy for an adult female and two units for a male. One unit = 340ml beer, tot (25ml) spirits, 50ml port, sherry or muscadel or 120ml wine.

Moderation is key:

Spread your weekly alcohol allowance as evenly as possible over seven days. Infrequent bingeing on alcohol can bring on attacks of gout or pancreatitis, and may cause abnormalities in heart rhythms and increases your risk of cancer.

Stretch your intake:

Use plenty of ice, water or soda water in spirit drinks or white wine (to make a spritzer); this dilutes the alcohol while increasing the volume so you drink less. Ensure your first drink is some other liquid e.g. a mineral water or a cooldrink – your alcoholic beverage should not be used as a thirst quencher.

Arrive alive:

On average it will take the liver about an hour to break down one unit of alcohol. So even after a night’s sleep, if you have had six cans of beer or two bottles of wine, you could still be over the legal limit the next day. Remember that, when driving.

Being fitter makes no difference to the rate of absorption. But, the absence or presence of food and the type of fluid that accompanies the alcohol does. Alcohol consumed on an empty stomach is more rapidly absorbed. Water and fruit juices mixed with alcohol slow the absorption process, whereas carbonated drinks (because of the carbon dioxide) will speed it up. Warm alcohol is absorbed quicker than cold alcohol.

Weight gain:

The calorie content of alcoholic beverages (which depends on the percentage of alcohol, the type of beverage and the type of mixture) plus the behaviour associated with drinking all have their part to play in the effect it will have on your weight.

When drinking alcohol, you tend to snack more, especially on the high fat foods, often available in social drinking environments. Eating high in fat take-away food (e.g. pies or burgers) late at night is another typical problem which arises after drinking, especially in students and young adults.

If you are watching your waistline, consider that one unit of alcohol is roughly equivalent to a slice of bread. It is then prudent to occasionally substitute a carbohydrate during the day to compensate for a drink or two that night.

Apply the 24 hour rule for training:

Avoid alcohol in the 24 hours prior to exercise. After exercise, once you have rehydrated and refuelled with carbohydrates, enjoy alcohol (and here I must include the ‘in moderation’). However, if you have any soft tissue injuries or bruising, abstain from alcohol for another 24 hours.

Fake it:

My personal favourite – a Rock Shandy (soda water, angostura bitters, ice and a slice of lemon) gives the impression of being an alcoholic drink, but hardly contains alcohol and calories – a sneaky option when friends continuously want to buy you a drink when they spot you standing empty handed.

Did you know?

Using thinner, taller glasses (especially wine glasses) can help you reduce your consumption. Research shows that people consume more alcohol when drinking out of shorter, wider glasses.

Read more on  iafrica.com

American singer Tori Amos is a fervent women’s rights activist known for ruffling feathers with her candid lyrics and views.

South African concert organisers have described her as “unpretentious” and having almost no backstage requirements – apart from wanting to sample local red wine.

The 48-year-old red-haired diva – who in 1996 sparked a media storm with an album cover featuring her breast-feeding a piglet – has requested water and “good red wine” during her time in Johannesburg and Cape Town this week.

Amos, whose hit singles include Cornflake Girl and Crucify, said before she arrived in the country that she was eager to stock up on South African wine for her cellar at home in Cornwall, England.

Read more…

It’s official – Silly Season is just around the corner and it’s time to stock up with sunshine!

Once again we’re holding our famously popular wine sale, offering unbelievable value on Arniston Bay wines, which have a near-cult following in the UK, plus a special offer from Versus.

WHERE: Welmoed Wine Estate (GPS 33°59’25″S 18°45’56″E), R310, Stellenbosch.

WHEN: Wed 30 November 2011 thru Sun 04 December 2011

HOURS: Wed-Fri: 09h00-17h30; Sat: 09h00-17h00; Sun 10h00-16h00

Here are the deals you can look forward to:

Arniston Bay Lighthouse Collection Chenin Blanc Colombard 2010

Case price x6 bottles R96 (R16/bottle)

Arniston Bay Reserve Sauvignon Blanc 2009

Case price x6 bottles R108 (R18/bottle)

Arniston Bay Chenin Blanc Chardonnay 2009

Case price x6 bottles R90 (R15/bottle)

Arniston Bay Chenin Blanc Chardonnay 2010

Case price x6 bottles R96 (R16/bottle)

Arniston Bay Shiraz Pinotage 2009

Case price x6 bottles R108 (R18/bottle)

Arniston Bay Reserve Pinotage 2007

Case price x6 bottles R96 (R16/bottle)

Arniston Bay Merlot 2009

Case price x6 bottles R96 (R16/bottle)

Case price x24 bottles R168 (R7/bottle) NB: these are 250ml bottles

Arniston Bay Shiraz 2009

Case price x6 bottles R96 (R16/bottle)

SPECIAL GIFT PACK: Arniston Bay Pinotage Rosé 2011

Buy 3 Get 1 Free, R96 (R32/each)

Plus, try Versus White 2010, x6 1000ml bottles, R96 (R16/bottle)