Category: Lifestyle (Page 197 of 274)

The Wonderful Wine Regions of South Australia

August 13, 2013 /

adelaide-hills-vineyards_l

Consisting of over 200 cellar doors and featuring many of the best drops in Aus, the South Australian wine trail is a must-do for every wine lover. Best of all, everything is in driving distance from Adelaide, meaning that arranging airport transfers, organizing transport and booking suitable Adelaide accommodation is exceptionally easy. The following is a guide to five of the best areas on the South Australian wine trail, with tips on which cellar doors and wineries you must visit.

Barossa

The Barossa Valley is where Aussie wines were born and is home to some of the oldest vines in the country (160 years!). Located approximately 70kms from the heart of Adelaide, it’s a beautiful area, full of history and architecture from the original German settlers. Best known for its big, bold shiraz, Barossa is home to some of the most famous names in the Aussie wine industry, including Wolf Blass, Jacobs Creek, Yalumba and of course, Penfolds. The nearby Eden Valley is also part of the Barossa region and is a quaint spot known for its award-winning riesling production. Not only is the Barossa known for its top drops, it’s also a haven for foodies. It is home to a range of wonderful restaurants and some amazing cheese companies. Check out the Barossa Valley Cheese Company for a complete food and wine experience.

McLaren Vale

McLaren Vale is a red wine lover’s paradise. With over 70 cellar doors, it is best known for its deep, dark shiraz, flavoursome cabernet sauvignon and prizewinning grenache. Some of the must-sees include Chapel Hill Winery, Geoff Merrill Wines, Rosemount Estate and Zimmerman Wines. The boutique Chalk Hill is also a must-visit with a proud history of wine-making dating back six generations. If you have a more organic preference, check out the Battle of Bosworth and Spring Seed Wines. Finish your trip with a follow-up beer at the Vale Ale Brewery.

Coonawarra

Coonawarra cabernet sauvignon is a staple of the Australian wine industry. The biggest wine area on the Limestone Coast, its terra rossa soil is credited for the region’s success. Although it sits 375kms from Adelaide, it’s worth the jaunt. Out of its 24 cellar doors, some of the best include Bowen Estate, Brand’s Laira Coonawarra, Wynns Coonawarra Estate and Redman Wines. Another highlight is the Coonawarra Wine Gallery, where you can various range of local wines and treat yourself to cheese platters and coffee.

Clare Valley

Located approximately 120kms from Adelaide, Clare Valley is home to some of the best in Aussie riesling. Another of Australia’s oldest wine regions, it’s full of attractions and activities including restaurants, art galleries and events, making it a hot-spot for tourists. The area is generally made up of boutique producers. Some of the best names on the riesling trail are some of the most renowned producers in all of Australia, including Jim Barry Wines, Tim Adams Wines, Edredge Wines, Taylors Wines and Annies Lane.

Adelaide Hills

Sitting 20 minutes from Adelaide, the gorgeous scenic views offered by Adelaide Hills makes for a lovely afternoon excursion in the crisp midwinter weather. Being a cool climate region, Adelaide Hills produces chardonnay, pinot noir, sauvignon blanc and riesling. The region’s style is elegant and premium, which has led to its national and international success. With over 40 cellar doors, Adelaide Hills offers something for everyone, regardless of palate and preference. K1 by Geoff Hardy is a must-see, as are Bird in Hand, Leabrook Estate and Mt Lofty Ranges Vineyard. Adelaide Hills is also known for its fabulous food, wine and music events. Look online before you go to see if anything coincides with your trip.

Photo credit: badjonni / Foter / CC BY-SA

About the Author: Dale McKenzie is a passionate wine drinker, wine writer and occasional wine judge. His dream is to retire on a seven-acre vineyard block in the Margaret River.

Lifestyle, Travel, Vices

7 Questions with Kai Lenny: 2012 Stand-up Paddleboarding Champion

August 9, 2013 /

Kai Lenny

Kai Lenny is not only the 2012 Stand-Up Paddleboard champion, but the Hawaii naive and Red Bull athlete is also a world class tow-in big wave surfer, kitesurfer and windsurfer. Lenny is also the first person to ever successfully windsurf across Lake Michigan, and he’s only 20 years old.

So how does Lenny stay mentally focused and physically fit enough to handle all these challenges? We sat down with him as he was preparing for the Molokai 2 Oahu World Championship to find out.

1. You’re the 2012 Stand-Up Paddleboard champion, but you also windsurf, kite surf and big wave surf. Which of these is the most challenging physically, and which is the most challenging mentally?

All of the water sports I do take a lot of physical and mental effort, and each requires a different demand of how to use my body. Each sport has a positive cross-training aspect that supports each other. The challenges really surface when the conditions become extreme or when I am in a competition.

A super windy day or a giant day at Jaws (a legendary surf spot), really puts the challenge into play. I love to push myself, and because of the hours I spend in the water everyday, I fell really conditioned and prepared when the extreme days come around. Competition also brings out the challenges in my sport. I am so competitive that when I push myself, like in a stand-up race, I give it my all and I search really deep, and that’s where I find out how much I can hurt. I remind myself at these times about the accomplishments that I have done.

Last year, during the World Championship Long Distance Race, I was about 200 yards away from the first place competitor and I reminded myself on how gnarly my wipeout was at Jaws and how the hurt I was feeling during this race didn’t even compare. This motivated me to dig super deep and I ended up winning by several minutes.

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Interviews, Lifestyle, Sports

Drink of the Week: The Framboise Franca Bomb

August 9, 2013 /

The Framboise Franca Bomb. Yes, it’s been an entire week since we saluted International Beer Day. However, as I said last week, for many of you out there every day is some kind of beer day. As it happened, this week’s combo was a little too intriguing — and a little too easy to fix — to completely ignore.

The drink is comprised of two ingredients which are old enough to be considered classic but will nevertheless be new to many of you — they’re still new to me. It’s definitely a case of two fascinating liquids that blend intriguingly together.

For starters, I don’t know where Lindeman’s Framboise has been all my life, but this Belgian export is, for my money, pretty gosh darn delightful stuff. Fermented with raspberries in preference to hops, and tasting very much like raspberries, it’s just sweet enough to be cheerful but just beery enough to be actual, respectable beer. To be honest, though, it should be said that, as beer goes, I’m a pretty rank dilettante. It’s the tragic result of the fact that I don’t seem to be able to put away more than a pint of the stuff in a single evening.

The second, and only other, ingredient in today’s beverage is the world’s trendiest bitters, Fernet Branca. Beloved of Batman’s buddy, Alfred, it actually began its career in the mid-19th century as an Italian stomach medicine. Drunk straight, many will feel it still pretty much tastes like an Italian stomach medicine. I don’t complain because people keep sending me the stuff for free. Also,  when combined with other beverages, it can yield intriguing and even delicious results. Such is the case with today’s DOTW.

Shall we begin?

The Framboise Franca Bomb

12 ounces Lindeman’s Framboise (or another Framboise Lambic beer if your feeling experimental, and can find one)
1 ounce (or a bit more) Fernet Branca

Fill a pint glass with your Framboise Lambic beer. Drop a shot glass of Fernet Branca shot into glass. Start drinking and toast all that time you’ve saved by making this cocktail instead of something that requires you to squeeze lemons and what not.

****

This drink isn’t only easier and quicker to make than most of the cocktails I select for DOTW — and I’m already pretty darn intent on keeping these drinks easy enough for louts like myself to make — it’s quicker to write about. I suppose I could have experimented with other Framboise Lambic beers, assuming I could have even found any, but I really didn’t see any reason to mess with near perfection.

While this isn’t as spectacular a blending of bitter and sweet as say, an Americano or, better yet, an Ugly Americano, the perfumey, fruity bitterness of the nearly 80 proof Fernet blends beautifully with the raspberry sweet tarty beery of the Lindemans Framboise. Also, the more of the berry flavored beer you drink, the more you’re ready for the stronger Fernet Branca flavor.

All that, and it yields a far better buzz attitude adjustment than a mere pint of beer. All in all, a great reason to keep the Bud and the Heineken packed away and go for something a bit more exotic, I’d say.  With more drinks like this, I think I could add to my beer consumption just a bit.

 

Beer, Food & Drink, Lifestyle, Vices

Product Review: Braun CoolTec Dry Shaver

August 5, 2013 /

braun

Electric razors always bring to mind the image of a man in a cheap suit with a poorly tied, generic red necktie shaving in the front seat of his tiny import as he hurriedly makes his way to his job at Megatron Widget, Inc.

It’s sweaty, tight, confined and irritated, and there is nothing he can do about it. The pit stains on his off-white polyester dress shirt prove that to resist is useless.  

But this isn’t an electric razor — this is the CoolTec dry shaver from Braun.

The other day, I received an oaken box that looked like a stylized ice cube with the classic Braun logo on the front. The box was sealed with a combination lock, and beneath that was a cryptically cool message that said, “Cool me down in your fridge to reveal your secret combination.”

I put the box in the fridge overnight, and when I woke up the next morning, the first thing that came to mind was the unknown contents of the Mystery Box. The three digit code revealed itself, so I popped open the box and was suddenly exposed to the new Braun CoolTec dry shaver.  

So how does CoolTec work? Instead of applying gels or moisture during or after your shave, CoolTec addresses the issue by cooling the skin throughout the process of shaving. How does Braun accomplish this? By employing Thermo-Electric Cooling technology, or “TEC” for short.

Skin irritation comes from cutting parts moving inside the shaver, as well as the shaver’s interaction with the skin. The skin can penetrate through the small holes of the shaving foil, forcing it to come into contact with the shaver’s cutter. OUCH! I know it hurts from experience, but reading the science behind it somehow makes it hurt more.

CoolTec has an aluminum cooling bar integrated into the shaving head. With the press of the CoolTec button (complete with “snowflake” icon), the aluminum cooling bar gets super cold in a hurry and cools the skin while you use the shaver.

For comparison sake, the cooling bar felt just like the cold piece of aluminum a cut man uses between rounds in boxing or MMA, called an “end-swell.” The cooling bar works in a similar fashion, calming the skin and dissipating pressure built up by the shaving head.

The shave was so smooth that I couldn’t believe it wasn’t from a razor. I kept asking the girls in my office to rub my face to make sure I wasn’t dreaming. Two out of three obliged, and they remarked how soft my skin was. Then they asked about my “other hair” and if I was “that smooth everywhere.” I work with some really cool girls.

The CoolTec has a great weight to it. It’s heavy enough to feel solid, but doesn’t feel cumbersome or impede the shave. Its ergonomic shape also makes the CoolTec easy to navigate, complete with tapered handle and thick shaving head, and the rubber grip accents are a nice touch.

A lot of thought clearly went into the function and design of the CoolTec, and even if you’re a shaving novice, you can feel the difference. So ditch your crappy import and upgrade to the BMW of dry shavers, because the CoolTec from Braun is the “coolest” dry shaver on the market.

Come on, you didn’t think you were going to get out of here without at least one of those, did you?

For product descriptions, videos and more, visit the Braun CoolTec website here.

Gear, Grooming, Lifestyle, Stuff to Buy

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