Horizon Adventures runs treks in some of the world’s most breathtaking landscapes offering clients trips that take them off the beaten track while expert leaders, who work alongside local guides, ensure that they enjoy every step, as well as offering intimate knowledge of the route and local history.

The most popular trek is the Mount Kilimanjaro adventure - an amazing nine day journey taking you to the top of Africa’s highest mountain.  Climbing the magnificent Kilimanjaro was made famous in 2009 when nine celebrities scaled the giant hill for Comic Relief. 

Bloody hell, if Chris Moyles and Gary Barlow can make it to the top then there must be a chance for people of all sizes…  Moyles’ journey was assisted by the rumours that Greggs had just opened a new branch on the summit and it’s also reported that Cheryl Cole was banned from singing due to the fear of avalanches. 

Check out these guys at www.horizonadventures.co.uk…

And what a busy year it’s been at the Smiling Grape Company…we’ve grown by over 30% and become a fantastic shopping destination for customers who enjoy our excellent customer service, expert advice plus wines of the highest quality!

We have lots of projects planned for this year including the relaunch of our Music & Wine Tasting events where each wine has its own song sung by the West End’s upandcoming stars…enjoy the delights of Cabernet as you listen to the songs of Cabaret!

We are also launching Smiling Grape TV with the first episode featuring the Smiling Grape Company auditioning for the X-Factor with an “interesting” rendition of Red Red Wine and also pitching a new wine concept to the Dragons in the Dragons Den…

Stay tuned…it’s going to be another great year!

According to Drinks Business magazine, Katie Price has signed an exclusive deal with Lidl to sell her own brand of wine called “Princess” after Price’s two-year-old daughter.

Retailing at £2.99 a bottle, the tasting note reads: “slightly nutty with a bitter twist”.

An enjoyable April Fools Day article which beats Decanter magazine’s story about the government of North Korea buying the entire allocation of Chateau Latour’s second wine - Forts de Latour…

Boplaas Cellars in South Africa uses a slighly different method when it comes to pressing the grapes for its rosé wine - an elephant!  The good news is that the elephant’s feet are given a good scrub before it gets to work, the bad news is that it loves to eat the grapes.  I wonder if the Elephant was in musk when helping to create this “nature-al wine”?  That would certainly add some different aromas to the blend…

According to Dr. Lu Wang; of the Preventive Medicine and Aging division of the Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, USA, a 13 year study was conducted of 19,220 healthy, non-obese women from the United States, who were at least 39 years of old, carefully tracking these women’s health statistics to discover what they could determine about the role alcohol played in their life style and health.

Surprising to some, but hypothesized by many others, as it turns out, the data turned out to prove that women who were advised to stop drinking in order to avoid extra calories, actually gained more weight than any of the other test groups being tracked!

Meanwhile, women who regularly consume moderate amounts of alcohol proved to be 30% less likely to gain weight than those women who didn’t drink any alcohol at all.

Dear Friends, 

I would like to thank you all for the support and concern that you have shown in these past few days. It has been essential during this initial stage of recovery, as we work hard to reestablish order and normality as quickly as possible.

While the Chilean wine industry has certainly been affected, the real tragedy is the loss of lives, the injuries, and the conditions of the many Chileans who have lost everything, especially in the Maule and Bio-Bio Regions.

We are a strong people and used to adversities. They have shaped our character and have forced us, time and time again, to move forward. We will do so again now — of this I am certain.

The entire Viu Manent team and our respective families are fine, and as of last week end,  have been working hard and are fully committed to bringing everything back into functioning order as soon as possible.

Our vineyards — the very foundation of our production and the source of our great love for the work we do — are very much intact and in the caring hands of our very committed agricultural team.

The cellar itself resisted very well and has only minor damage, which we are repairing now.

The winemaking equipment is intact and ready to receive our 2010 harvest.

Our bottling and labeling lines are also intact and will be back to work as soon as we solve some problems with the electrical lines, which we expect to have in order this week.

With respect to the wine, an initial but detailed quantification shows that losses do not exceed 15% and mostly resulted from the collapse of some of our largest tanks, some barrels, and some bottled wine.

In terms of infrastructure, our tourism area suffered the greatest damage, with the collapse of a portion of the Llavería, an old adobe building. As a result we will be unable to receive visitors for a few months during the low season.

Morale and enthusiasm are high, both on my own part and that of all those who work most closely with us. The commitment of the entire Viu Manent team is intact, and above and beyond any adversity that we may be forced to face, we are ready to continue our ongoing mission to produce ever-better wines…and this is something that I want to convey with the optimism, drive, and spirit that we are known for.

With the support and confidence of our importers, suppliers, the trade, media, and consumers, the Chilean wine industry will recover very quickly, and the 2010 vintage will be remembered as a very special one, because the united front that characterizes our industry, its dynamism, and its participation in the market will strengthen it, based on what is truly essential — our exceptional natural conditions and the extraordinary drive of a country with an undeniable vitivinicultural vocation that no hardship can diminish.

We at Viu Manent have no time to feel sorry for ourselves; all of our efforts are focused on picking ourselves up as quickly as possible and getting back to doing what we do best: delivering the great wines that our family has been making for 75 years and now exports to more than 40 countries around the world.

Finally, I sincerely hope that the media in general, and especially that of the wine trade, which has always been essential in communicating the successes of our industry, will continue in its vital mission of delivering objective and truthful information by turning to official sources in order to avoid distortions and unconfirmed versions of what is happening here.

Cheers!

José Miguel Viu

Check out our popular Viu Manent wines by clicking here

“We’re not going to encourage that sort of thing today,” Guinness editor in chief Craig Glenday said recently. “That’s how people get hurt.”

But can the Smiling Grape Company beat Scott Murphy’s record for smashing more than 10 one litre wine bottles in under 30 seconds with using just our bare hands?  Now that’s going to hurt…

Unfortunately, you’ll need to drink 100 bottles a day for it to have an effect…

Buckfast only accounts for just 0.5 per cent of Scottish alcohol consumption so is crime also related to the abuse of Scottish beer or whisky? “Erm, we don’t know,” was the response. “We haven’t collected statistics for any other drink.”

Try our delicious Alba Scots Pine Beer from Lanarkshire but don’t blame us if you get into a fight.