Most of us dare not appear home on Mother’s Day without the customary chocolates or flowers, while the braver or slightly more talented might cook for their lucky mums.  Whichever you opt for, boost your gift with a great bottle of wine from our tips below:

Wine with Chocolates & Forgotten Roses

Wine and chocolate are two of life’s great pleasures, with something different to suit every mother.

If your mum loves dark chocolate, gift a bottle of our Wine of the Month San Telmo Malbec @ £6 along with your box of chocolates. A rich dark chocolate will highlight the concentration of fruits in this Argentinean Red wine treat.

For mothers who prefer white chocolate, you’re in definitely in luck. White Chocolate matches really well with most wines, whether they’re dry, medium or sweet wines. An excellent pairing for a few chunks of white chocolate would be a lighted bodied red, like our Beaujolais Villages from Andre Goichot  @ £8.

While the milk chocolate loving mums are best advised to enjoy their wine and chocolate separately. Rarely does milk chocolate improve the wine, or vice versa.  In this case, forget the chocolate and splash out on a treat wine like Ricossa Barolo @ £16 – this Italian classic is famed for intense aromas of red fruit and floral notes. So with a Barolo, your Mum is getting the enjoyment of a fine wine plus the bouquet of roses you may have forgotten to buy!

Run Together series returns for 2019, with addition of a new 10K event,  aiming to raise £20,000 for Action Cancer 

Local convenience retailer Centra is encouraging people across Northern Ireland to get up and running with the launch of its annual Run Together series, which returns bigger and better than ever for 2019.

Centra Run Together encourages people to get active by running, jogging or walking with a friend, kids, or even the family dog, through a series of free 5K runs in towns and cities across Northern Ireland, whilst raising vital funds for Action Cancer. Building on the success of the initiative over the last three years, this year’s Run Together series hopes to make an even bigger impact, with five events taking place in Enniskillen, Bangor, Derry~Londonderry, Armagh and Belfast between May and October 2019.

For the first time, a more challenging 10K race at Ormeau Park, Belfast will be added to the series, aimed at those seeking to take their running journey to the next level. The exciting 10K event will act as a big finale, ending the series on a high during Centra’s annual fundraising week in October. It is hoped the grand finale, which will include a 5K and a 10K route, will raise over £20,000 for Action Cancer, as Centra edges closer to its major £3million fundraising target for the charity.

As in previous years, the regional 5K events are completely free to enter, with participants encouraged to make a donation to Action Cancer in lieu of an entry fee. For the finale at Ormeau Park, a small entry fee will apply to both the 5K and 10K races, with 100% of the fee donated to Action Cancer.

The Centra Run Together series is designed to encourage people of all ages and abilities to adopt an active lifestyle and get up and run together. Runners are encouraged to enter the race in pairs, motivating families to participate together.

Everyone that takes part will receive a free T-shirt, bespoke Centra Run Together medal, a free lunch and tasty samples courtesy of Deep RiverRock, Müller, Alpro, Fridge Raiders and Fulfil. On the day, there will also be face painting and entertainment for all the family.

Centra Run Together events will take place in five locations throughout 2019:

• Lakeland Forum, Enniskillen 5K – Sunday 12 May, 10am
• Ward Park, Bangor 5K – Sunday 9 June, 10am
• Queen’s Quay, Derry~Londonderry 5K – Wednesday 12 June 2019, 7pm
• Palace Demesne, Armagh 5K – Sunday 15 September, 10am
• Ormeau Park, Belfast 5K & 10K – Sunday 20 October

Commenting on the launch, Jennifer Morton, Centra brand manager, said: “The Centra Run Together series has established itself as a popular part of our Live Well initiative, and we are excited to introduce a brand-new Run Together 10K event in 2019. As social running continues to grow in popularity, people are increasingly progressing from 5K runs to the more challenging 10K routes and we wanted to reflect this in our series, whilst still offering an opportunity for new runners to participate, run together and have fun.

“As always, our aim is to encourage as many people to get up, get active and embrace the community spirit of the series, whether they are a frequent runner or a first-timer. Once again, we are delighted to have Deep RiverRock back on board as our title sponsor. With their help, we look forward to building on the success of previous years and raising even more money for Action Cancer in 2019.”

Orla McKenna from Deep RiverRock said: “On behalf of Deep RiverRock, a much loved locally sourced water from Northern Ireland, we’re are delighted to be involved in the Run Together series once again this year.

“Deep RiverRock’s ‘Thirst For Better’ platform is about connecting people in their collective pursuits, and fostering great community spirit; a message that resonates perfectly with Centra’s Live Well campaign.

“We look forward to supporting those new and seasoned runners to come together and have some fun, while getting active.”

For further information and details of how to register visit www.centra.co.uk/runtogether or the Centra Facebook page, www.facebook.com/CentraNI

Your St. Patrick’s Weekend Drinks Guide

I doubt anyone requires guidance on choosing a suitable beer for St. Patrick’s Weekend! So I’ll focus my attention on a suitable wine or great cocktail.

Irish Stew & Italian Rosso – a spiritual experience!

With our Italian Wine Sale coinciding with St. Patrick’s weekend, and Italy producing so many food friendly reds, I’d highly recommend pairing our Tuscan red – Castellani Arbos Sangiovese @ £7 with your homemade Irish Stew. Alternatively, if you’re choosing to make your stew with beef, look further south in Italy and try our Tombacco Aglianico @ £8. If you’ve never tried Aglianico, this star of Southern Italy is considered to be one Italy’s top 3 wine grapes. Its full-body and rich tannins make it a perfect match for a rich hearty stew.

Try Boxty & Chablis – Saintly Syns!

For many of us Boxty was something we only saw on the food menus of Irish bars in America. Surprisingly, Slimming World have now managed to revive the world of potato pancakes and introduced it to a whole new generation in Northern Ireland. The Boxty pancake may be very low in syns, but for a more sinful treat I’d highly recommend topping your Boxty with crème fraiche and Irish Smoked Salmon with a side of Chablis wine! The fresh, crisp, citrusy minerality of our Andre Goichet Chablis @ £12 will pair beautifully with this luxury Boxty treat.

And to finish….. the greatest Irish Cocktail ever…

The Irish Coffee! No debate required, just a simple recipe….

Perfect Irish Coffee Recipe

35ml Jameson Irish Whiskey

1 cup of Freshly Brewed Coffee

1 teaspoon of Brown Sugar

Topping of Lightly Whipped Double Cream

Optional grating of nutmeg on top

Valentine’s Day has always been a great chance to impress. Whether you stick with a refreshing fruity Prosecco, splash out on complex Champagne or look for something a little different with a stylish Crémant, impress with these few nuggets of sparkling knowledge:

1. The Prosecco region is within an hour of the romantic city of Venice. Prosecco flows in the bars of Venice and also helps make the city’s famous Bellini cocktail, yet the proximity of these famous vineyards appears to remain a secret to most tourists of the city.

2. Although Champagne is a sparkling white wine it is made predominately of red wine grapes. French magic? Not quite, it’s more like a delicate French touch. The colour in red wine comes from the dark skins, so very gentle pressing and minimum skin contact means the skins never release this colour into the wine.

3. English Sparkling Wine has impressed the French so much so that they’ve been buying up English land! One of France’s most prestigious Champagne Houses, Taittinger, has already planted a vineyard in Kent with Bollinger now hinting that they may follow soon.

4. Cava is the Catalan word for Cave, linking the Spanish sparkling wine to its Catalonia origins. It’s in the cool, underground caves and cellars of Catalonia, near to Barcelona, where 95% of all Cava transforms from still wine to sparkling wine.

5. Crémant is the name the French give to sparkling wine made outside of the Champagne region. Produced in great French wine regions like Alsace, Burgundy and the Loire, these are some of the best value wines in France and great alternatives to Champagne.