Our Go-Tos for Balance and Contentment

If you’re reading this, chances are you’re in one of two wine pairing camps. You’ve had a bad food and wine pairing. You’ve tasted a food and wine pairing made in heaven and want to recreate it for yourself – hopefully, like every single day.. Not everyone is bothered whether their food tastes different or better with wine. But then you have one of the above experiences and think: is there a practical way to understand food and wine pairing? How can I know why a wine pairing is wrong? How can I know when I get it right? You’d be interested to know there's a science to pairing wine and food....

Chinese New Year which follows the lunar calendar, falls on the 22nd of January this year this year and is celebrated for 15 days till the full moon of the first lunar month. It will be the year of the Rabbit, the fourth animal of the 12 year Chinese zodiac cycle. The Rabbit is a symbol of longevity, peace and prosperity in Chinese culture. 2023 is predicted to be a year of hope. Years of the Rabbit include 2023, 2011, 1999, 1987, 1975, 1963, 1951, 1939, 1927... We celebrate with a salad called ‘Yee Sang’ paired with our Semillon Sauvignon...

Christmas dinner is a great time to gather with loved ones and celebrate a beautiful time of year... If the year gone by relied too much on ready meals and takeaways, Christmas dinner is the grand finale that reminds us we can spending treasured time together cooking snd sharing.  But of course, the success of a Christmas dinner comes down to planning and preparation. So what wine pairs well with Christmas dinner? If you’re planning on having a bird or ham as the centrepiece, the right wine can make a perfect marriage which elevates the meal, leaving you feeling light...

How do you order wine at a restaurant?    Do you order the wine before even seeing a menu? Do you choose a dish first and then pick a wine you think would pair? Do you look at the wine list and pick a dish based on the perfect wine pairing? Do you opt for the set menu that comes with wine pairings? Do you go with your flow that meal? If you're developing your palate, ordering a meal based on wine can be daunting. But there's a special delight in getting it matched well! For this festive season, we looked...

“The intellectual quest, though fine as pearl or coral, is not the spiritual search. Spiritual wine is a different substance. The intellect and the senses investigate cause and effect. The spiritual seeker surrenders to the wonder.” — Rumi (1207-1273) Can drinking wine be part of a spiritual approach to life? Let us explain ourselves. You won't find a new-age spirituality book about how wine is the secret to a happier existence (or might you?) – and, as you might expect, the Dalai Lama does not drink alcohol. Is drinking wine very much a part of the 'materialistic' culture in which we find...

If you buy healthy, we bet you automatically check ingredients or the processing and provenance of any meat, fish, eggs, dairy and veg you add to the shopping trolley. But what about your wine? You might be surprised to know what you're drinking. Do vegans or vegetarians know that many wines contain animal-based fining agents (e.g. fish bladders, egg white and milk proteins)? At UMAMU Estate, we use sustainable practices and take great care to produce wines the old-fashioned, Old World, traditional way. We try to use as little funny stuff as possible. To do this it means we take greater care in the...