Ladies Who Lunch: The BusinessWorld Female Forum
The Ladies Unwind with Wine

For its first installment this 2010, Ladies Who Lunch: The BusinessWorld Female Forum wined and dined a select group of women, ushering them into the world of wine and wellness.
Dubbed "Unwind with Wine", the event was held last March 5 at Wine Depot in Westgate Corporate Center, Alabang. This by-invitation-only luncheon was attended by 30 women composed of top executives. Participants were given insights about wine and how it contributes to a person’s overall well-being.
Blanca Mercado, BusinessWorld Publishing Corporation’s finance director, welcomed the ladies while Adie Villongco, marketing strategist for BusinessWorld and the event’s moderator, introduced each of the attendees as well as the speakers.
Wine Depot’s marketing and communications director, Lia Bernardo, shared the several significant health benefits of wine. She shared with the ladies how research found that the French and Mediterranean locals did not suffer from heart attacks despite a diet high in cheese and animal fat. She also pointed out the connection between wine and skin care by citing the good qualities of Alpha Hydroxy Acids (AHAs) which are antioxidants found in wine.
Bernardo also introduced the ladies to Wine Depot’s selection of wines from the Australian label Banrock Station, several glasses of which were made available for the ladies to enjoy while they grazed on platters of cheeses, fruits, and nuts, and later, as they savored a specially prepared lunch by Chef Marco Legasto of Gourmet Depot.
Lunch was started off with a Carrot cream and cheese soup, then followed by a choice of King George whiting fish or chicken, and a melt-in-your-mouth olive oil panna cotta drizzled with Tasmanian honey.
To add more excitement to the already fun get-together, the BusinessWorld team held a tongue twister challenge. Each contestant was asked to say "Unwind with Wine" as many times as they can. The lucky lady who won got to take home a VMV Glykeros set worth Php3,510 which included a cleansing crËme, toning essence, a face-hand-body lotion and a VSRC skin privilege pass.
On hand as resource person that day was Emmarose Policarpio, owner of the mobile spa specialist Spaholics. She described the many different types of wine spas all over the world and how these help in healing and rejuvenating the body. She shared with the participants the various kinds of spas she had already tried here and abroad. She further revealed her desire to try vinotherapy next at the Caudalie spa in France.
Policarpio also showed the ladies how to reap the skin care benefits of grapes at home by making their own homemade hand scrub using grapeseed oil and other natural ingredients.
The heat of the midday sun outside was easily forgotten for several hours as lively discussions took place and new friendships were formed among the luncheon guests. Many of them also enjoyed some pampering under the capable hands of Spaholics massage therapists who expertly treated the ladies to a massage.
It was also a day of freebies for guests as gifts from BusinessWorld and membership gift certificates from Curves each worth Php6,000 were raffled off. Each guest also brought home a goody bag containing a gift certificated for a one-week trial at Curves, a VMV Glykeros Lift Physique Face-Hand-Body lotion or a VMV Illuminants Skin Brilliance Treatment Comfort Cleansing CrËme, and VMV Skin Privilege Passes at the VMV Skin Research Center.
The Ladies Who Lunch: The BusinessWorld Female Forum is a regular, by-invitation event for women covering different topics of interest. To see what more transpired during this installment of Ladies Who Lunch: The BusinessWorld Female Forum, visit the site at www.herword.com/forum. The event was presented by BusinessWorld and HerWord.com, with special partner High Life Magazine, sponsored by Wine Depot and in cooperation with VMV and Curves. Text by Ruth Manimtim Floresca. Photos by Noel R. Maglaque.