So I can’t drink wine right now… but you can for me. 😉
Wine snobs may try to dictate how to sip and savour wine but the peeps at unconventional brand Café Culture advocate a more ‘live free’ sociable approach to enjoy your red wine served hot to celebrate #winewithoutrules this winter.
It has become evident that in a social context there are too many stereotypes on which etiquette best suits which environment, and too many rules exist on how to do this or that.
Too many rules take the fun out of things, so here are some important #winewithoutrules to keep in mind:
Rule number one: There are no rules.
Rule number 2: There are still no rules.
Rule number 3: Drink the wine you like, however you like.
For all the snobbery and high-class jargon that wine connoisseurs bandy around, Greek poet Homer affirmed many centuries ago, “Wine can of their wits the wise beguile, make the sage frolic, and the serious smile.”
Café Culture, a non-traditional crafted Pinotage, has a soft, mocha, dark chocolate and toffee undertone, complemented by an aroma of fresh berries and the only rule that should apply when drinking it is that you enjoy it with a ‘Live-Free’ approach.
A great way to do this is to make your own homemade Glühwein, (a traditional German hot winter beverage) with the unconventional Café Culture Pinotage. Then, throw away the wine glass rule-book and sip it out of a tumbler to enjoy with your non ‘fair weather’ friends to warm you up on those cold but sociable wintry days.
There are hundreds of different recipes available for Glühwein (meaning ‘glow wine’ in German) also known as ‘mulled wine’ elsewhere in the world. It is usually prepared from red wine, heated and spiced with cinnamon, cloves, citrus, and sugar and sometimes with other ingredients such as vanilla pods, nutmeg, bay leaves and star anise.
However, simple but tasty is always good, so here are two simple recipes that takes literally minutes to prepare, leaving more time for you to enjoy the time with your friends.
Glühwein Tumbler Recipe Using Café Culture (serves 8)
1 orange (sliced and seeded)
Half cup of castor sugar
2 cups of water
1 teaspoon ground cloves
2 teaspoons cinnamon (or one stick)
1 bottle Café Culture
Method
Combine the orange, sugar, water, and spices in a saucepan
Slowly bring to the boil, reduce the heat, and simmer for 15 minutes
Reduce the heat, add the wine, and slowly reheat but do not boil.
Serve warm or hot in tumblers.
On warmer days Glühwein is also delicious chilled.
Vin Chaud Tumbler recipe with Café Culture
If you are entertaining with a French themed evening, the French variation is called Vin Chaud (“hot wine”) a popular drink amongst skiers in the French Alps is great.
Preparation and cooking time: 10min
1 bottle of Café Culture
250g of brown sugar
1 orange, cut into slices + the zest
4 cinnamon sticks
3-4 whole cloves
a pinch of ground nutmeg
a small piece of fresh ginger, cut up (or a pinch of ground ginger)
Method
Combine all of the ingredients into a pot on the stove. Bring to a gentle boil and let simmer for 5 minutes. When hot and all the sugar has dissolved, serve in mugs. Remove the larger spices using a strainer. Serve with a piece of orange or cinnamon stick in each cup.
Café Culture Pinotage is available at most retail outlets for a RSP of R49, 99. For more information visit: www.cafeculturewines.com.
You can WIN one of 3 Café Culture hampers worth R500. Each hamper includes: a case of Cafe Culture Wine, an Urban Picnic blanket and a set of 4 tumbler glasses.
HOW TO ENTER:
1. Share this post on social media.
2. Leave a comment below letting me know why you need wine this winter. 😉
Example: Mom needs some time out with a cup of wine to relax!
3. Follow Café Culture on Facebook –> www.facebook.com/cafeculturewines
EARN EXTRA ENTRIES:
Follow me on Twitter -> https://twitter.com/youbabyandi or Instagram –> https://instagram.com/youbabyandi
Tweet about the competition:
I want to WIN with Café Culture and @youbabyandi. You can WIN too, enter here: http://goo.gl/QGvoks. #winewithoutrules
Subscribe to my newsletter on the top right hand side.
Competition closes 15 June 2015. Good luck!
Opened to South Africans only.
I need to unwind after a tiring day.
July is my daughters milestone birthday & my wedding anniversary, a day apart, so planning a bash for her & her friends & a time out session with me & hubby # proving to be stressful# wanting a perfect memorable occasions…SO need wine to unwind (liked n shared on FB & twitter)
I would love this, just to have some me time 😉
This mom needs it so that she and daddy can spend some time alone sharing a glass while having a lovely autumn picnic.
I’d love to MAKE a memory with this lovely prize and take my fiance to our favourite get away place and enjoy one of these gorgeous bottle while enjoying the breath taking view in front of their fireplace (or we can pretend and just have it in front of a lovely warm heater…not really the same hey) I am following you on twitter and instagram Have tweeted @rehanaseedat. I have susbscribed to the newsletter and following Follow Café Culture on Facebook
this mom needs wine because you pregnant and I need to drink for both of us 😉
Firstly, I love Cafe Culture, secondly, after a long week .. I absolutely need to sit back, relax with my feet up and sip some of this delicious concoction ..
to relax and keep warm
After the last 30 years, all a girl really needs is glass of wine, a warm blanket and silence.
In winter there is nothing better than snuglling up next to my love with some wine after the kids are safely in bed. Tweeted (@catjuggles), Following Cafe culture (rins coetzee gous) on Facebook, following you on Twitter and instagram
What better place to “wine” away those winter blues because when the winter weather is at its worst, I’ll “wine” a bit and I’ll definately feel better! Tweeted (@flutterbymegs), Following Cafe Culture on Facebook, also following you on Twitter and Instagram. Fingers crossed 😉
This Could Serve As A Break After Being A Breastfeeding Mom For A Year, Next Month Its Ma Baby’s First Birthday! Will Definetly Stop Breastfeeding, With These Wines CoulD Celebrate The Time I Had To Bond With My Baby
I just need some time alone to relax
To keep warm
LOVE them but need a break sometimes – kids of 20,21,21 and 24 living here at the moment, my husband and myself….just need to relax
The draw is one day after I turn 30, I will need wine and lots of it as I mourn my 20 somethings. : )
I drink water when I’m thirsty, I drink Method Cap Classique when I celebrate, I drink coffee because I need to, I drink Cafe Culture because I enjoy it. I would drink even more Cafe Culture if I win it.
It’s wow it’s wacky it’s #winewithoutrules it’s winter and a lovely wine for next to the firr
I need this to help me celebrate my birthday next month and to keep me warm 🙂
Hi, I absolutely love this post! I am a firm lover of wine, and my first experience of gluhwein was in a very snowy swiss village in the alps at Christmas time, so it is a fond fond memory! I would lobe this as Mom likes to remember her travelling Days when I need a distraction from Nappies, snotty noses and bumwipes! LOL!
I need to win this just to share with my Hubby & have a relaxing time 2gether on cold winter evenings
Two reasons: 1. I am a mom (therefore I need wine 🙂 ) and 2. Our new house is freezing and I need yummy wine to warm me up 😉 x
I need the wine to take some time to relax and warm up with hubby on the cold winter nigts
To warm up again!
Hehe – why do I need wine this winter? Why does the sunflower need sun, the bee need pollen and a dog need a bone?? To put a smile on our dial, a buzz in our step and a wag in our tail of course! Cant do any season without wine! 🙂
It was a hot summer, and it is going to be a cold winter. What better than a glass of wine in front of the fire with your family and relaxing after a long cold day
I am needy, I am greedy and will willingly enjoy #winewithoutrules when my duties for the day is done. #Winter #RedWine #WoodFire