Time flies when doing what you love doesn’t it?
And yes, this refers to wine and especially organic wine shopping.
First of all, I should mention an article that had probably contained the best written argument with regards to the recent rise in weekly alcohol consumption limits that UK Government imposed. For those who are still not in the know – men’s limits were lowered to women’s levels and now are at 14 units a week. It basically means that you can have a small glass of wine either everyday with 2 of those during weekend, or if you are following our recommendations and actually have at least 2 alcohol-free days a week, you can have 3 small glasses of wine on Saturday and Sunday. It doesn’t sound like a lot of strain, but what I did like how Jamie Goode (who indeed is a scientist) put it in his recent article published in Noble Rot magazine that we are all different and the studies actually have proven that drinking in moderation aids to longevity and is better for you rather than abstaining at all. I remember feeling relieved when he mentioned that he actually undergone a liver test to find out if it is functioning properly (after all he is a wine lover as well!), and it was indeed.
Don’t forget about our additional guidelines, i.e. drinking plenty of water and more of that published in our guidelines how to drink less here.
Great value wine shopping
I know who is not helping to keep things in control – our current best wine offer remains with Naked Wines. You now can buy their customer favourites wine case and get our exclusive 60 pounds off (provided your total order is more than £99.99). They have quite a queue for anyone wishing to become an Angel (put in £20 each month towards their wines and get exclusive discount that is), but if you want a great wine deal – here you have it: £60 off!
Coming back to health issues and wine, it has been quite an exploratory and productive month. Two of our wine community content pieces – Healthy Eating Shopping list and Guilt-free cocoa cookies recipe are now one of the most viewed content.
So what is coming up in April?
For most of us it is basically a very dynamic business season, just before some May bank holidays.
I was thinking that we all need some sort of power breakfast for that, so if you had a look at my shopping list above, you’ll see that glutenous foods are a major no-no, but eggs are a definite yes.
What can we do with that?
I present to you my healthy gluten free breakfast that is amazingly nutritious with good protein and fat, but low on processed foods and bad carbs.
Advanced power breakfast with avocado, crab meat and eggs
You would need avocado, some lettuce, poach or build some eggs and dress it with a crab mixture.
You can buy a fifty-fifty crab meat or go all-in for a white crab meat pack, mix it with some coriander, a bit of finely chopped red onion, lime juice and zest, couple of spoonfuls of organic mayo and some cumin to taste. You can fill avocado halves with this mixture to make it prettier, but that’s not the point – you get a luxurious breakfast that is cooked in no time and also without unnecessary things like wheat crumpets! Ditch those calories and as soon as you get enough sleep and moderate amount of exercise (even if you simply all for at least 10000 steps a day) you will start losing weight and feel better!
Get online, shop at Waitrose or Ocado for organic produce and everything would be tip top. I won’t even blame you if you add a bottle or two of their organic wines – with the spring temperatures just around the corner you may want to opt-in for something white or rose even? Have a look at our updated Best Organic Wines top list for some further wine shopping inspiration!
I needed a bottle of a new organic wine
When talking about wine shopping for organic examples, I thought it could not be any easier than paying a visit to an established specialised wine store. Without naming a particular Oddbins branch, I must say that I was shocked by a tremendous lack of knowledge, lack of understanding what are organic wines and becoming very confrontational when challenged. I could not believe that a wine experience could be so poor.
Yet now I understand why supermarkets grew so much and why such an overwhelming majority of people prefer to simply pick up a bottle of several from the shelf without any interaction during their wine shopping whatsoever. Do those indie sales people simply like to intimidate people? It can work with those who know nothing, but looks ridiculous when you actually reply to them that their answer was simply incorrect. I now understand why that branch was empty on a busy Thursday evening in a central London location. If only I knew…
These wine shopping experiences in the independent wine stores could be (and in my mind should be) pleasurable and educational. Having said that, we would like to create a poll – would you mind getting back to us with which independent wine merchant has won your trust and also your wallet please? We would like to know the heroes and why are they the best (think about your most remarkable wine shopping experience).
One lucky respondent will win a bottle of Albet i Noya ‘Lignum Negre’ – an organic red from Penedes, Catalunya. So looking forward to your feedback!
Cheers!
