Good evening my dear readers! (: I hope that all of you had a wonderful weekend especially if you had a long one because of the Anzac Day holiday. I’ve got some exciting news to share with all of you! (: A week back, I received an email from  Taylors Wines who wanted me to do a wine giveaway on my blog. Of course, I said yes! hehe I was also so lucky to received not one, but two bottles of Pinot Gris to taste! How generous are they? Couldn’t be happier!

Before I go into more details of the wine and the giveaway, I would like to tell me my thoughts about the Pinot Gris! Pinot Gris has always been one of my favourite type of wine. hehe I had a glass before bed one night, and really love how clean and crisp it tasted with tones of pear and apple. I knew instantly what would pair with it perfectly – seafood. My dearest husband read my mind, and made an amazing prawn aglio olio with pan seared scallops for dinner the following night!

He even used some of the wine in the sauce and it was so good! I wanted more (: The prawn and scallops were so sweet & succulent, it just complimented the wine perfectly.

Prawn Aglio Olio with Pan Seared Scallops (The mr’s original recipe, serves 2)

5 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

3 small chillies, de-seeded and finely chopped (you can increase or reduce the amount of chilli depending on how spicy you like your dish to be!)

2 tbs fresh basil, finely chopped

1/2 cup white wine (I used Taylors Estate Pinot Gris)

2 tbs olive oil (plus an extra tbs for the scallops)

Salt & pepper, to season

12 prawns, peeled and cut into chunks

6 scallops, left whole

Pasta of your choice

Freshly grated parmesan cheese, to garnish

Steps :

1) Cook the pasta according to the instructions on the package. Strain and run under cold water so that the pasta will not stick together. Set aside while cooking the sauce.

2) In a heavy based pot, heat the olive oil on medium fire and fry the garlic and chilli till fragrant.

3) Add the prawns, and fry till it’s coloured and no longer translucent. Add the chopped basil and white wine. Allow this to simmer for about 5 minutes.

4) Pour the pasta into the sauce and mix it well. Set aside, and keep it warm.

5) Pat dry the scallops and season with sea salt. Heat a non-stick pan on low-medium fire and add 1 tbs of olive oil. Place the scallops into the pan and flip every 30 seconds. Repeat each side for about 3 times, or until the scallops have a nice golden brown sear.

6) Place the pasta on a plate and top with 3 scallops per person. Garnish with some freshly grated parmesan cheese. Serve with a glass of Pinot Gris. ENJOY!

And now, the part that you’ve been waiting for so patiently…. the giveaway! (:

Taylors Wines is a family-owned wine company, in South Australia’s stunning Clare Valley, that was born from a passion of producing exceptional,  hand crafted wines. They are “Bringing great wines to life” and would love to give two lucky readers two bottles of their beautiful Taylors Wine –  Taylors Estate Pinot Gris 2011 and Taylors Estate Shiraz 2010.

How do you win these amazing wines?

To enter this giveaway:

• All you have to do is to leave a comment at the end of the post to let me know : What is your favourite wine and what do you like to pair it with? 
• Open to Australian residents only! (So sorry!)
• Please make sure you’re of a legal drinking age and be able to provide a proof of age (it is needed to be sent to the company before they can send you the wine)
• The winners will be drawn on the 5th of May 2013, Sunday at 10pm (Melbourne time).
• You may reenter daily, one entry a day (YAY!)
• Winner will be picked via random.org and announced on this blog and notified via email

Good luck and have a great week ahead! (:

Remember to always cook and bake with love!

This is a sponsored post by Taylors Wines. I tasted the Pinot Gris with compliments of Taylors Wines, however, the review, opinions are honest and based on my personal taste and preference. The recipe is a Food Made With Love original.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And the winners are….. Diana and Coco!! (: Congratulations!

Congratulations you two! (: Will be dropping you an email or a reply soon! Hope you enjoy the wines! hehe Have a great week ahead! xx

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Update : Unfortunately, I can’t get hold of Diana and Ross (who was picked after not hearing from Diana) so I had to pick another winner! Congrats Zoe!! (: Hope you will enjoy this wine with Jeff!