It’s National Drink Wine Day and we don’t need to be told twice

Feb 18, 2017

There is literally nothing better than settling in after a long day with a glass vino, so how amazing does a whole day committed to the red, white or rosé stuff sound?

Today, ladies and gentlemen, is National Drink Wine Day, and that's pretty much the best excuse to drink a grape-filled tipple we've ever heard.

From the wine handbag to wine contouring and face masks, we're clearly big fans of the beverage.

PSA: if you don't have a Valentine for Valentine's Day, just celebrate February 18th which is national drink wine day!!!

— Taylor Bueker (@taylorbueker9) January 24, 2017

"The purpose of National Drink Wine Day is to spread the love and health benefits of wine," reads the National Drink Wine Day website.

"Wine has played an important role in history, religion and relationships."

"We embrace the positive benefits of wine such as new friends, reduced risk of heart disease and the enhancement of food and life."

While the day may be a Stateside occasion, we see no reason why it can't be celebrated on the Emerald Isle too.

I mean, it is Saturday after all, the perfect day of the week to indulge.

As if we'd need an excuse…

A WINE handbag?! We’ll take about twenty please and thank you

Feb 14, 2017

by Amber Saunders

Just like Rihanna at the Grammys, we've all had moments when we just want a drink.

Whether it be at family gatherings, a hell-ish Luas journey home or even while you're doing a bit of Sunday shopping – sometimes a birra wine just makes everything better.

Well, those moments are going to get a whole lot better now that there's a WINE handbag on the market.

Bella Vita has designed a bag with a secret pouch for storing your favourite vino (or whatever booze you fancy). The alcohol is stored in a zipped, insulated pouch, so all you need to do is unbutton a little flap on the side, pull out the spout and pour away.

The bags retail at $75 (€70), so they're not too pricey, and they're even big enough to hold all of your essentials.

Shneaky naggins in the club, how are ya.

Wine-o-clock! This wine cube hack is so pretty and oh so useful

Feb 11, 2017

by Staff Writer

While the snow falling outside might make a nice hot chocolate the beverage of choice, there is never a bad time for a cool glass of wine.

There is nothing nicer than having a few glasses of rose with the girls, but sometimes when guests arrive their bottles are more room-temperature than pleasantly chilled.

Thankfully, we stumbled upon a nifty little way to cool down a glass of wine without having to go for ice cubes, which water down a good glass of vino.

A photo posted by Anna-Joy Sandhu (@loveandchapatis) on Oct 2, 2016 at 3:32am PDT

Simply swapping out the water in the ice cubes for wine is the answer, to create wine cubes.

The cubes will melt into your beverage, but instead of making it watery, will simply add more wine! It's a win win.

A photo posted by official detox page (@detoxwaterpage) on Jan 17, 2016 at 6:34am PST

All a girl has to do is fill a basic ice cube tray with rose or white wine and let it freeze for 24 hours, so if there is a party or girly gathering coming up, these cubes would go down a treat.

You can make them look extra appealing by adding fruit such as berries or mint leaves, or even edible flower petals to the wine before freezing, so they will look super pretty in the glasses.

If you happen to have wine left over after a party, this is a great way to use up those last half-glass measures that are left in the bottles without simply throwing them away or letting them go to waste.

A photo posted by Williamson Wines (@williamsonwines) on Feb 26, 2016 at 1:43pm PST

Red wine can also be frozen if you're not in the mood to finish the bottle, according to the Williamson Winery

Red wine ice cubes can then be used in cooking at a later date, added to marinara sauces to add a richness of flavour or used in the pan when cooking up a nice steak.

Who knew our favourite beverages could be so versatile?

CHEERS! Why our new favourite bubbly is… actually from Australia

Feb 10, 2017

by Amber Saunders

Here, at SHEmazing! we’re fond of a glass of bubbly. From soirees, to weddings, parties, and festivities – toasting the occasion with bubbles makes it all the more special.

However, there is no doubt that in terms of quality, what’s out there is a decidedly mixed bag.

No fizz; weird after-taste; lacking in flavour… we’ve ALL had a dodgy glass (or two) of prosecco or cava (and quite possibly lived to regret it afterwards).

And the stuff that’s actually nice tends to be crazy expensive.

Yes, our quest to source the perfect affordable bubbly continues apace… and now we may have found something that’s pretty close: it’s from Australia, it’s extra dry, it’s full of fizz… and it’s just delightful (we had to sample for research purposes, natch).

Enter McGuigan frizzante. In short, if you like prosecco – you are going to LOVE McGuigan frizzante.

McGuigan has also been named International Winemaker Of The Year a record-breaking four times (a world-first), so you know you’re getting a really quality bottle.

Better still, and while this frizzante is usually priced at a wholly-reasonable €15 in Supervalu and Centra stores nationwide, at the moment it’s on special offer for just €10, which is a pretty ah-maze-ing way to say “Oh hello there, Friday.”

Cheers!

You can also buy McGuigan frizzante online from winesoftheworld.ie in both a standard 750ml bottle size and a snipe (200ml).

Cheese shot glasses exist, and we know exactly how to make them

Feb 5, 2017

by Rebecca O'Keeffe

Not that any of us needed an excuse to enjoy an evening of cheese and wine, but these shot glasses are DELICIOUS.

Cheese shot glasses are a thing, and we cannot believe we're only figuring this out now…

The best part? You can make them at home, and they're easy to create.

What you'll need:

2 pounds cheddar cheese

Silicone shot glass mould

Wine (a lot of it!)

What you'll do:

Grate the cheddar cheese into a bowl.

Microwave cheddar cheese in 30-second intervals for 1 to 1 1/2 minutes, until the cheese is melted, but not burnt.

Pour cheese into silicone shot glass moulds and press in gently.

Let set at least 30 minutes until firm. Remove from the mould and serve with wine of your choice.

Apparently, we should be adding salt to our wine (but ew, disgusting)

Jan 27, 2017

by Amber Saunders

First of, the last thing you think about pairing with wine is… well, salt.

They just wouldn't go together, right? But, one man believes it's the secret to making cheap wine taste better, so we'll hear it out.

In an interview with Wall Street Journal, Nathan Myhrvold, former chief tech officer for Microsoft, revealed that his party trick is adding a pinch of salt to inexpensive vino.

He explained that while he was at a dinner party, he was sitting beside a Winery owner who said she'd wish she made a Cabernet that was less fruity and more savoury.

With that, Nathan dropped a bit of salt into her glass, and they realised it made it taste much better and "pretty soon everyone at the table was doing this," he admitted.

All of our instincts are telling us 'NOOOO!', so we're going to take this advice with a pinch of salt (excuse the awful pun).

Inspired! FLAT wine bottles are a thing, and we’re totally INTRIGUED

Jan 16, 2017

by Amber Saunders

Ladies, there are some things you just don't know you need until they burst into your life, and you suddenly find yourself wondering how you ever survived without them.

Dry shampoo, we're looking at you.

And as an office of wine-lovers here at SHEmazing! HQ, we admit we're absolutely intrigued by a mail-order British company which has created a wine bottle which allows you to receive your vino stash right through your letterbox.

The bottles supplied by Garcon Wines are flat and made from glass-like plastic which means they can be delivered straight into your hallway, and no one has to spend hours queuing at a postal depot after missing the postman by mere seconds.

Commenting on the creation, founder, Joe Revell, said: "The team have worked hard to refine the design and ensure the service overdelivers on our customers' expectations."

"No more missed deliveries, no more depot-collection cards, no more waiting around for couriers and no more heading out to the supermarket late at night next time you feel like wine."

Ladies, the future is now.

How to banish that bangin’ WINE headache the day after drinking

Dec 14, 2016

by Amber Saunders

Whether you're having a few glasses at the end of a busy week, or poppin' bottles at your work Christmas party, it's safe to say we're not opposed to the wonderfulness that is a glass of vino.

But one thing that is not so wonderful is the downright AWFUL headache that creeps up on us the next day.

Well, a wine chemist (yep, that's an actual job) told the Chicago Tribune that there are ways to avoid a wine-over.

Despite popular opinion, sulfites are not to blame – they can occur naturally in the wine during fermentation or are added solely to preserve the wine – but instead, tyramine and tannins are the peeps that are up to no good.

And what the Hell are those, you ask? Tyramine is an amino acid that affects your blood pressure and tannins are what make wine dry or 'bitter'.

If your body has trouble breaking down tyramine, it can cause a banging headache. And what's more, tyramine is also found in cheese – so, we bet that cheese and wine night isn't such a good idea after all, huh?

And as for tannins, these are related to opening your blood vessels, which is the first step your body takes on when a headache is brewing.

But, fear not. There's some easy solutions to our vino problems.

According to Dr Seymour Diamond of the National Headache Foundation, drinking a cup of strong coffee before pouring yourself a glass of wine can help. Caffeine restricts blood vessels, which stops them from opening and subsequently can stop a headache.

Sticking to white wine or lighter reds can also be of benefit as lighter-bodied wines have lower tannin levels.

And last but not least, HYDRATE. Drink water before, during and after you drink wine to make the morning after a little more bearable.

Water into wine: This woman’s kitchen hack is our EVERYTHING

Dec 13, 2016

by Amber Saunders

The moment we're introduced to a hack, most of us wonder how we lived so long without it… and, perhaps more importantly, why we never thought of it ourselves.

If that sounds at all familiar, then prepare to hang your heads in shame, ladies.

In a move which has us re-evaluating pretty much everything, Clare from Manchester took to Twitter to share her use for her fridge's water dispenser, and frankly we're stunned we never thought to do it ourselves.

My adult life just peaked pic.twitter.com/jU70YQL7VE

— Clare (@iliketweet) December 11, 2016

Filling the water tray with sweet, sweet vino, the 28-year-old beauty marketer created an icy wine dispenser which has us salivating into our sleeves right about now.

"My adult life just peaked," she wrote alongside a shot which has racked up a staggering 173,000 likes in just two days.

Commenting on the viral post, one Twitter user responded: "This is my dream, I can't believe, as a wine addict, that I never thought of this!"

And everyone from Time Magazine to BuzzFeed want in on Clare's ingenuity – much to the surprise of Clare who tweeted: "Right, I'm off to The Winchester and waiting for all of this to blow over."

Right, I'm off to The Winchester and waiting for all of this to blow overhttps ://t.co/xxKQHGA6IM

— Clare (@iliketweet) December 13, 2016

Sounding like a gal after our own heart, Clare was actually more stricken by her description in the countless publications who have highlighted her top-notch hack than the public's interest in the hack.

"Even with all this madness, the thing that is scaring me the most is that people are calling me a 'woman', I am not adult enough for that!"

We wonder if she has an opening for a BFF.

WINE contouring is the latest viral beauty hack we’ve been waiting for

Dec 10, 2016

by Staff Writer

From Snickers bars to high heels – if it exists, someone has tried to contour with it.

While we prefer to just suck our cheeks in and hope for the best, one blogger has decided to add a brand new ingredient to the makeup mix.

If anything would make us embrace the pursuit of chiselled cheekbones, it's a bottle of rosé, which is exactly where this vino-based tutorial comes in.

Beauty blogger Eyeliner Addict uploaded the tutorial, which has since gone viral with over 5.4 million views.

The video starts out with the blogger using the neck of the bottle to angle the contour at her cheekbone but includes more advanced techniques, like shading around the nose, chin and brow using the curves of the bottle.

A photo posted by Drunk (@always.drunkaf) on Jun 25, 2016 at 7:41am PDT

There has been some shade thrown in the comment section of this video, about the ridiculousness of the contouring technique, but the creators have set the record straight by explaining that the video is a parody.

"Since there's been some debate, yes, this is just meant to be funny. No, I don't expect anyone else to try it. Just watch and laugh at all my funny faces, OK?" they explained in a Facebook comment.

Either way, the combination of wine and makeup is always a winner in our books (though maybe don't drink the wine while contouring, for a wearable result).

First chocolate, then gin, and now there’s a WINE advent calendar

Nov 25, 2016

by Amber Saunders

It's that time of year again when all you want to do is come home from work or college, lunge into your PJs and drink a nice class of wine.

Well, now you can everyday in the run up to Christmas with this WINE advent calendar (because, who needs chocolate or gin?!)

And it's not your average 'Lidl, €7' wine, it's the proper fancy stuff.

Each glass of wine is selected by an expert sommelier, and it claims that each glass gets better as the days go on.

The Vinebox website says: "Bold and aged reds built for fireplace chats and wool blankets. Rich whites as refreshing as unraveling your scarf after a mad dash inside from the cold. 12 different glasses of wine hand-curated to perfectly accompany this holiday season.

"Enjoy a new wine every night, with selections from renowned regions including Burgundy, Barolo, Bordeaux and more! Naughty or nice, these wines are sure to impress."

We'll be guzzling our way to Christmas, so.