The rellies have gone home, the house no longer rings with laughter or arguments, the decorations are about to come down, the pine needles will be lurking for months, the walls will look bare, Oh no, do they need decorating?  Arghhh yes, perhaps they do. The children are back at school, we’re back at work, the days are still short, the resolutions have been made and probably breached…

Sounds to me like it’s time to toast farewell to Christmastide, or so it was termed by the Brits, when the Council of Tours – long long ago – decided that Christ’s birthday should be celebrated from Christmas to Epiphany, the last day of which is the twelfth night.

How better to toast this warm hearted Christmastide with wine, and support a charitable initiative at the same time: the Nederburg/Qhubeka partnership.

First a couple of the initiative wines:

56 Hundred Pino Grigio: I love a Pino Grigio. At my favourite hostelry  in London, The Wellington on the Strand I don’t have to order whilst waiting for my meal, it just comes. Is this Nederburg Pino Grigio good? The name is intriguing, honouring the vision of Philippus Wolvaart who paid 5600 guilders for the land that became Nederburg, and the wine is fresh, with a touch of fruit, a touch of sweetness. It has a good heart and great with Italian or Asian dishes, though with pretty much anything actually, or alone. Just the ticket.

56 Hundred 2016 Pinot Noir: Another good hearted wine, red, smooth but vibrant and happy to be glugged with seafoods, poultry, pizza and pasta. Loved it.

 

 

Now the initiative: The South African award-winning premium winery, Nederburg, is working with the charity Qhubeka, to raise money to build bikes to transform lives in rural South Africa.

In Africa, the majority of the rural population suffer from limited forms of transport. By providing bicycles to these communities, the Nederburg/Qhubeka continued partnership enhances lives by cutting travel time, hence improving quality of life and facilitating employment and activities that have not up to now been possible.

To this end Nederburg will donate five pence from every purchase on selected Nederburg wines, in Tesco stores nationwide. The bottles on the shelf have a bright neck collar to make them stand out. The promotion runs in store until the end of January 2018.The wines are priced at £5.75.

But still on the cycling theme, the partnership has been taken further: Nederburg believes that cycling, like wine, is complex, intense, requires passion, discipline and evokes real emotion. And so, in partnership with Team Dimension Data (professional cycling squad –led by Mark Cavendish – team leader of Tour de France) and Qhubeka, the Do Your Part initiative was born.

Why not lose some of that weight put on over Christmas: sign up or donate at www.nederburgbelieves.co.uk and you can start logging miles for bike parts or a whole bike. Fundraising cycle packs are sent out to inspire cyclists (and the team) to gather funds to help  bikes to be built at a special assembly facility on the Nederburg vineyard in South Africa. The facility, which assembles a minimum of 5,000 purpose-built bicycles a year, will not only offer employment to the community, but also provide all employees with their own personal bicycle, enabling them to improve their lives as well.

If you’d like to know more about Nederburg’s partnership with Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka to mobilise communities across Africa, visit http://www.nederburgbelieves.co.uk/ or search #DoYourPart on social media.

The wine promotion runs in Tesco stores until the end of January 2018.The wines are priced at £5.75.

And a happy, healthy, fit New Year from all at Frost Magazine.