THERE are reasons why people love red wines, including their red and black fruity flavours. That depends on the variety of red wine. But generally, red wine has hints of cherry, strawberry or blackberry. Spicy flavours such as black pepper or cinnamon, earthy flavours like leaves and herbal flavours such as rosemary or grass are also common in red wine.

Each of the types of red wine differs slightly in its combination and intensity of flavour.

Storing wine properly is important in maintaining the quality or red wine. For lovers of red wine therefore, some tips will be useful in preserving the rich taste of their favourite.

Wine storage temperature is a key point to note. Another factor is how and where the bottles are placed for storage. These are important for both short-term and long-term storage.

According to wine experts, the best red wine storage temperature

hovers around 10 to 15 degrees Celsius. Those stored at a warmer

temperature age faster, which allows the wine the time it needs to

bring out its complexity. Whereas, storing at a cooler temperature

slows down the ageing process.

Red wine is also damaged when it is moved quickly between extreme temperatures. As such, when storing wine, do not move it from a hot place to a cool place too quickly such as taking it from your hot car directly to the cool cellar in the basement. Allow the wine a little time in between to cool down slowly, so that the temperature change does not damage the wine.

In storing wine, ensure that it is placed where it does not move

around a lot. If kept in a cellar, the wine rack or other storage unit should be solid such that the wine does not shake much.

Store it in a location where it does not get direct sunlight. Pull the

shades or close the door if sunlight is hitting the wine directly.

Lay wine on its side for storage to ensure that the cork does not dry out. Storing red wine (or any wine) in the sun increases the temperature and the flavour of the wine changes

EVERYBODY wants to be in good health but most of us never give a thought to what we consume. The foods we eat can make or mar us. Eating healthy foods have a lot of benefits, which have been proven scientifically by many studies.

The biggest benefits of eating healthy foods include staying physically fit and having fewer illnesses. We can lower our risk of illnesses like heart disease, obesity and diabetes mellitus as well. Eating healthy food is probably the easiest and most important way in which you can boost the immune system and your energy levels.

It is essential for a sound reproductive system, maintenance of healthy skin, good vision and cleansing of the body system. By eating a healthy diet and combining these with exercise, you could end up leading a longer and more vibrant life.

One of the ways of keeping fit is by including fruits and vegetables in our diet. Today’s recipe on healthy eating is on “Tropical Fruit Salad.”  It has different types of fruits as its base ingredients, which provide excellent sources of some nutrients like potassium, dietary fibre, vitamin C, A, E and folate (folic acid) that help to preserve health, maintain ideal weight, normal blood pressure, lipid and cholesterol level.

Intake of tropical fruit salad protects against illnesses like heart attack, clogged artery, obesity, cancer, constipation and premature aging. Regular use of this special fruit salad after the festivity helps in rejuvenating and cleansing the body system. Once you implement a healthy diet like intake of this tropical fruit salad, you will be surprised at how fast you will start reaping these rewards for the rest of your life.

Recommendation

Tropical fruit salad is recommended for those that want sound/healthy living. It is also essential for preventing cardiovascular diseases, arteriosclerosis, lowered immune system, cancer and constipation.

Equipment for preparation

Knife, spoon, cutting board, plate, bowl

Ingredients    Quantities

Pineapples        2 small size

Avocado           1 medium size

Mango              1 medium size

Kiwis                2 medium size

Soursop            2 medium size

Banana             1 medium size

Pawpaw           1 small size

Method of preparation

Cut pineapple in half lengthwise. Empty out the fruit, discard the hard central part and chop up the rest.

Keep the juice obtained through the process.

Peel and chop the bananas and kiwis (soak the banana in the pineapple juice to keep it from becoming brown).

Peel the mango and avocado and remove the central seed, chop both.

Cut the pawpaw in half, empty out the seeds, peel, and chop it into pieces.

Cut the soursop in half, empty out the pulp with a spoon. Put the pulp through a sieve that does not allow the seeds to pass.

Mix all the chopped fruit in the bowl and then fill the empty pineapple with the mixture.

Chill in the refrigerator for at least one hour.

Serve cold and enjoy.

E-mail: chineloeby@yaoo.com

WITH the African Football Cup of Nations (AFCON) taking off next Saturday, a beautiful shopping experience awaits visitors with the South African end of season retail sale bringing fantastic bargains to football fans in malls across the length and breadth of the country.

According to the South African Tourism, “from big, bright air-conditioned shopping malls to street vendors selling home-grown vegetables, visitors can buy anything and everything in our cities and towns, which each have landmark shopping hubs where all the major retail chains, and many others, are trading.

Goods range from imported furniture, designer clothes, kitchenware, computers, techno gadgets, audiovisual equipment, jewellery and more. Edgars, Clicks, Mr Price, Foschini, Stuttafords, Truworths and Woolworths are some of the popular retail chains in the rainbow country including top-end international stores like Zara, Louis Vuitton, Gucci and The Body Shop, and IT brands like Apple and Vodacom.

There are also smaller businesses that are big on choice, personalised service and variety in everything from designer baby gear to bathroom accessories, footwear, books, kitchen gadgets, high-end computers and smart phones; including hand-crafted chocolates, diamond, gold and other precious trinkets to adorn the body with.

All the five AFCON host cities offer at least one mall experience, which also coincides with the end of season retail sale in January 2013 where South African Tourism has formed a partnership with VISA and hundreds of malls across the length and breadth of the country to bring fantastic special offers to all visiting AFCON fans.

Africa is set to take the entire world by storm with the introduction of clothes and accessories made with exotic African fabrics

WE have been used to seeing different branded caps and hats, but we are yet to see them done in African prints. However we will soon begin to see more of them on both local and international runways.

With African influence ruling the global fashion scene now and many foreign designers presenting ethnic prints on the runways in London, Milan and Paris, many Nigerian designers, too, have been catching in on this trend to produce clothes and accessories with African prints such as Ankara, Adire, Kente prints, aso-oke and more.

And that explains why Crown Natures Nigeria Limited, manufacturers of different types of headwear, decided to do the ethnic thing by producing these cut-to-precision hats and face caps in African prints.

And there was no better place to present these proudly-Nigerian collection, other than at Studio 29 on Opebi Road, Ikeja, an outlet where ethnic clothes and accessories from different designers are sold.

Introducing the hats to the media recently, the Operations Manager of the company Mrs. Olubusola Gbaluwe explained said: “Our ethnic exotic caps and hats seek to increase the confidence of Africans in African originated fabrics and also give identity in unity to Africans across the globe, while revealing the inexhaustible potentials in Africa by Africans to non Africans on the globe as the next continent to watch out for.”

The company is set to take the fashion scene by storm as it unveils its unique range of baseball caps, Polo caps, Sun visors, bucket hats, special hats and Fidel Castro hats at a maiden fashion show at the MUSON Centre on January 25. The hats come in exotic African hand and machine print fabrics – Ankara, Tye & Dye (Adire), Kente, Aso oke and batik as a lifestyle brand.

Explaining why she decided to go into hat –making, Gbaluwe said: “ We conducted a research and discovered that there were no standard factories manufacturing hats in large quantities locally, so we went to China, met with and invited a Chinese manufacturer who own one of the biggest factories in China to Nigeria to help us set up the company. So we have been able to transfer technology from China to Nigeria with the support of the Bank of Industry (BOI).”

The cuts, the finishing of the hats makes them a collector’s item according to Mrs Gbaluwe, who explained that “we have identified every head as a potential hat wearer” hence the motive for organizing the show is to further promote and showcase the rich African culture, while increasing the existing value chain of cotton from a garment fabric to other fashionable accessories.

The show, which is being organised in collaboration with two young designers-Winner’s Couture and Mood’deo Couture promises to be a grand one.

AS the National Assembly continues with the process of amending the 1999 Constitution, Chief Ndukwe Ikoh, an Abia State leader of thought and promoter of Mezie Obodo, a socio-political group in the Southeast, expects the legislators to use the opportunity to place Nigeria on the path of progress by addressing the lopsided nature of the country.

In an interview with The Guardian in Lagos, Ikoh said hoped the National Assembly would be bold enough to “do the right thing now, no matter how they arrive at it.”

He said: “I expect a true constitution that will operate in its letter and spirit, devoid of ambiguity; a constitution that will address the imbalance among the regions, especially the creation of additional states for all the regions to have equal number of states.

“The Southeast obviously should have additional state(s), no matter how it is done. We should at the end of the exercise have a constitution that has the imprint from the people and not made by certain class of the society.

“If this is not done, Nigerians would still be clamouring for a people constitution.”

He is, however, optimistic that the Constitution Review Committee would do a good job and come up with a type of political system that would suit the multiplicity of ethnic groups in the country.

This, he said, would encompass recognising the six geo-political zonal structure without the current 36 states operating as the federating units.

He stated: “We had three and later four regions before and that was the best era for Nigeria,” he added.

Ikoh also wants the constitution to give full autonomy to the local governments, noting the governors are running the councils as their private estates.

“For me, local government does not exist. No opposition party wins a council election, just because a governor conducts the election and puts the people he wants in order to control the councils’ funds,” he bemoaned.

On the clamour by the Southeast to produce the next president in 2015, Ikoh reckoned that it is long over due, saying: “We have people to occupy the position. We have the talent and we are enterprising enough to steer the ship of the nation.

“In 2015 when Igbo man will be in Aso Rock, that is when Nigeria will experience growth, innovation, direction and purposeful governance.”

Ikoh hinged the leadership problems of Nigeria on the inability of the electorate to look beyond the surface in choosing who will direct their affairs.

“Nigerians are not concerned in choosing their leaders; they are carried away by the size, education and appearance in determining a good leader. That is far from real ingredient of leadership. A leader must be somebody who is tested with well-known background. Leadership must be progressive from one level to another. Yes, leaders are born, because the qualities of leadership are like any other qualities inherent in people. They are people who are very careful to listen and articulate issues.

“After God, leaders are the ones everybody looks up to when it comes to giving directions. A leader should not have enemies among the people he leads. Followers play important roles in choice of leadership. In democracy, all sort of people come up with money to bribe their ways, mortgage future your conscience and lead you wrongly and by the time you complain things had gone bad. People should be educated on how to make choices of leadership,” he said.

On the performance of Abia State Governor Theodore Orji, Ikoh said: “I have stopped assessing the governor or comparing him with other governors based on people’s opinions, because there are lots of confusions when you hear the complaints of Abia people against the governor, bordering on non-performance and the response and position of the governor against their complaints and grumbling.

“In the same vein, the governor had at different fora in Lagos explained or debunked those allegations and I was among the audience.

“Be that as it may, I do not want to draw any comparison between what he his doing and what is happening in other states. He has told us his limitations and the reasons for his poor performance, including his resolve not to borrow money to execute projects.

“However, from my perspective, I look at governance as a complete business. If you want to borrow, borrow and justify it, in terms of provisions of quality governance.  It doesn’t make sense to me if you don’t want to borrow to impact on the lives of people.

“If you have to borrow to make the people see the dividends of democracy, then borrow reasonably to improve the people’s lot and when the times comes, the people will pay the debt.

“You are not borrowing for yourself; you are borrowing for the entire state and not personal debt. It becomes an offence when you borrow to put into your pocket.

“I have refrained from joining issues with the governor on his performance for the time being.”

He, however, criticised the delay in the payment of civil servants salaries, adding: “I have relations in Abia State civil service who are owed three or four months salary arrears.

“It boils down to the focus and style of governance of the governor. I don’t see reasons, after subjecting workers to clocking system, at the end of the month you don’t pay them salaries. It is inhuman and biblically wrong, as a labourer is worthy of his wages at the end of the month,” he noted.

Ukoh said Mezie Obodo is not a political group or  his brain child, but a social interest group trying to complement government efforts in the environment and constituted of people from different classes and political affiliations, who are gainfully employed.

He stressed: “Our interest is that the next governor of Abia and some other states in Southeast will come from Mezie Obodo structure. By then, from a social interest group, we could assume political position and from any political party, push a candidate that will bring the dream and aspirations of Abia and other states in the zone to bear on governance.”