Seoridh Fraser – Heron Restaurant From refined tasting menus to relaxed bar service, Edinburgh’s wine scene is as diverse as its venues. Diana Thompson of Wine Events Scotland spoke to three hospitality professionals  inviting them to share their approach to creating the perfect wine list - each with their own philosophy, palate, and personality. Seoridh Fraser – Heron Restaurant General Manager & Beverage Director At Heron, Seoridh Fraser has built a wine list that is “eas

Organic rosé cuvée Château Galoupet - an organic wine estate located on the Mediterranean coast in the Côtes de Provence appellation, has introduced G de Galoupet , a new certified organic rosé cuvée. The estate, acquired by Moët Hennessy in 2019, is recognized for its commitment to biodiversity and sustainable viticulture, with practices that span from vineyard management to packaging innovation. Vintage & Terroir   The 2024 vintage of G de Galoupet  reflects the estate’s

Photo: Elizabeth Bowman Bite was delighted to attend a flavour-packed evening celebrating two iconic Italian staples — Grana Padano PDO and Prosecco DOC — hosted by Diana Thompson of Wine Events Scotland and cheese expert Ned Palmer of Cheese Tasting Co UK. Set in the elegant surrounds of Divino Enoteca, the event was part of the Cheers and Cheese to EU campaign, designed to showcase the harmony between these two protected Italian products. Read our review of Divino Enotec

The menu runs until Sept 7 From 25th August to 7th September, Bar Prince at The Balmoral is serving up something truly unexpected: a tasting menu that pairs artisan gelato with fine wines and Champagne. In collaboration with the legendary Jannettas Gelateria of St Andrews. . A Family Affair with Italian Roots Jannettas Gelateria, founded in 1908, is now helmed by fifth-generation brothers Lewis and Ross Hazel. With Sicilian heritage and a deep commitment to craftsmanship, the

Champagne Afternoon Tea During a recent visit to Gleneagles , Bite Mag participated in an exclusive Moët & Chandon tasting that traced...

The event was held at Taisteal When acknowledged ‘Queen of Rosé’ Elizabeth Gabay MW , author of the definitive bible on pink wine ,...

Diana Thompson of Wine Events Scotland continues her journey into the art of wine selection. For this issue, Diana interviewed three Edinburgh restaurant experts, each of whom shares two offbeat wines, along with perfect pairings to help you enjoy them at their best. Meet This Issue’s Experts Duncan Findlater – Owner of Smith & Gertrude Jack Montgomery – Owner of Argile Restaurant Stuart Skea – Sommelier at Lyla Restaurant Duncan Findlater Duncan’s  picks reflect character a

Like a breath of fresh air! With sunny skies on the horizon and rosé season in full swing, searches for the tipple are up 138% this month * and Lidl is celebrating with the launch of Breath of Paradise , a brilliant alternative to Whispering Angel.  Giving fans of pale blush rosés a taste they can Côte d’Afford, this delightful rosé is not one to whispered about. Priced at £10.99 , Breath of Paradise is a whopping 50.6% cheaper ***, offering high-end flavours with a budget-

There will be a range of Champagne, crémants, by the bottle and by the glass Cuvée , a new Champagne, wine and cheese bar, is set to open...

William Street Giles Cooke & Paddy Gilhooley While enjoying our meal at Edinburgh wine bar, The Green Room , we spot an upcoming Australian wine tasting presented by Paddy Gilhooly of Thistledown Wines . Duly rocking up the next evening, we’re treated to six generous tasters from highly-awarded Thistledown, run in Australia by Giles Cooke who, along with fellow MW Fergal Tynan, founded the winery in 2010. Recent times have seen their hard work up to and through all manner of

Diana Thompson I’m delighted to introduce a new series to Bite Magazine, exploring the art of selecting the perfect wine from a restaurant wine list. Each article will deliver expert insights from sommeliers and those serving wines, helping you enjoy wine confidently and gain insight into the thought process behind each bottle. Wine lists enhance dining, adding theatre and excitement to the menu. Throughout this series, we’ll explore flavours, gain expert tips, and discover i

Slonk Wines arranged an evening to show off their exclusive new producer Tenute Navarra . Ambassador Mattia presents a range of central Sicily’s finest while Jack & Scott of Marchmont’s pride & joy, the small but sublime Argile chef’s table restaurant, serve up a storm of creatively faultless food. This young winery at Butera, with holdings of 175ha in the DOCG appellation of Cerasuolo di Vittoria and also producing olive oil & almonds, is the joy of Toto Navarra’s family,

Rose Murray Brown brings us this event in the delightful Riddle’s Court venue, celebrating the delicious and exceptionally varied wines of this often-overlooked but extremely dynamic region, with a special nod to wines selected for a ‘Coup de Coeur’ (here meaning ‘love at first taste’!).  After a warm welcome, I’m greeted with maps demonstrating the plethora of mixed terroir there to play with, and also reaffirming ‘Roussillon est lá’ - pointing downwards to the inland valley

Boca Manga   ¡‘Vamos a tomar un vermut!’ ‘Let’s go and have a vermut’ is the way a Madrileño will suggest a drink out with pals to get together.  Regardless of whether any actual vermut, a classic popular aperitif, is taken - any of Spain’s vast array of classic and new-wave wines may be enjoyed on the occasion.   This fallback expression for fun is a godsend natural slogan for sales, which Jesus Llamazares, UK-based director of Los Origenes distributor & retailer of Boca Ma

Carmenére Harvest - Matt Wilson_ Before participating in a masterclass, my perception of this South American nation was largely limited to the descriptors "red" and "new world." However, after an education from Master of Wine, Patrick Schmitt, editor of The Drinks Business magazine, I gained a deeper understanding of Chilean wine production. While the class was intended for the hospitality industry, Bite managed to glean some fundamental insights and tips that we can pass al

Have you ever wondered if your Prosecco comes from the plains or the hills? Prosecco is seen as an unpretentious drink perfect for socializing and this accessibility has helped it conquer the world of bubbles.  The Italian sparkling wine is made with the Glera varietal and by an industrialized method called Charmat, a technique that means re-fermentation takes place in a tank instead of in a bottle. The wine is filtered, and pressure controlled, and there is a relatively high

The Thracians were an ancient ethno-cultural group whose land in South Eastern Europe encompassed northern Greece, Romania, northwest Turkey, and modern-day Bulgaria in the lowlands. Archaeological evidence shows Thrace to be one of our most ancient winemaking regions and Dionysus, the Greek god of wine, was Thracian. Who knew.  The wine output of Bulgaria has been influenced by geography and politics, as explained by Dr Jamie Goode, at a recent tasting held in the Burke and

A range of sherries As we approach the end of the year I am happy to have ticked off some foodie resolutions for 2023. One of these resolutions was to attend a sherry tasting which I did last month when Fion Wines held an event at  Mistral in Leith.  I started appreciating fortified wine a couple of years ago, but my knowledge of the topic was limited to two styles - Fino and Oloroso.  The ‘Veil of  Flor’ masterclass curated by Miguel of online store Fion Wines, presented th

Champagne lifestyle on a lemonade budget? Lidl’s got you covered this Christmas. The supermarket today reveals its award-winning Montaudon Champagne Brut has officially beaten prominent champagne house Moët & Chandon in a recent blind taste test. In a bid to prove its affordable tipples stand up against high-end heavyweights, Lidl went head-to-head with the luxury label, with six in ten participants agreeing the supermarket’s own-brand fizz ‘tasted better’ than Moët & Chandon

The Nyetimber Estate, Sussex Recently we attended a Glasgow meetup of the Institute of Wines & Spirits (IWSS), which holds bi-monthly events in both central belt cities, where members & visitors taste & discuss a wide variety of wines - our speaker, Michael Bush, regional manager for Nyetimber , England’s top-rated sparkling wine, had visited before. We enjoyed four lynchpins of the hugely respected & award-winning range, of which the Blanc de Blancs 2015 (£47) was our over

Sherry and Scotland have a deeply connected past with Edinburgh’s first records of drinking it dating back to 1548. The city even has its own Cadiz street, named after the Spanish port where Sherry barrels were dispatched out of before being shipped into Leith. It’s a fascinating past and for Scotland, these barrels offer greater meaning as when they arrived in town the wine would be poured into bottles and the casks snapped up by eager whisky merchants who discovered by refi

Premium sakes fall into three main categories junmai, ginjo and daiginjo Sake, the Japanese rice wine, and its unique properties are still not widely known in Scotland despite some mixologists using it more and restaurants starting to suggest food pairings. To help foodies get a better understanding of the drink, Slow Food Edinburgh and Harajuku Kitchen teamed up to offer one of the first Sake tastings ever held in Edinburgh. Sake specialist, Masayo Nuttall from World Sake I

Miguel of Fion Wines tasting Gramona, Imperial, Brut, 2017. “Us Spaniards like to complicate things!” says Miguel Crunia of Fion Wines “First we ask you to drink Cava then we ask you to drink CORPINNAT instead.” But what is CORPINNAT? Miguel runs Fion Wines with his partner Vera, and they promote and sell minimal intervention wines. They recently ran a pop-up wine tasting at the Italian restaurant RadiCibus to introduce CORPINNAT wines to Edinburgh. The name translates, rou

Wine Regions Wine Events Scotland is fast becoming the gold standard for educational wine tastings in Edinburgh and the masterclasses...

Diana of Wine Events Scotland brings a spring treat to the beautiful Riddles Court in Edinburgh with Matt Walls, author of the Classic Wine Library’s ‘bible’ on Côtes du Rhône . It’s easy to forget this reliable French wine region, given the avalanche of new wine-producing areas and grape ‘discoveries’ elsewhere. Matt shows us this large, varied region is not standing still but continually improving and adapting to current and future challenges. Younger generations of win

Photo credit: Simone Hilliard What do you know about Chilean Wine? Before I attended a recent masterclass, I associated this South American country primarily with the words ‘red’ and ‘new world’. But after a fascinating masterclass with Master of Wine, Patrick Schmitt, aka editor of the magazine The Drinks Business I have a greater awareness of Chilean viticulture. The class was aimed at the hospitality trade but Bite picked some basic information and tips which we can share.

​ Funny what goes into a bottle of wine. Geography, politics and geology have all influenced the furmint grape says, Dr Caroline Gilby. Edinburgh’s wine trade has gathered at the Royal College of Physicians in Queen Street for a masterclass on Hungary’s flagship grape delivered by Caroline and Rose Murray Brown, both Masters of Wine. The event was organized by Wine Events Scotland. War and decades of a planned economy mean there are numerous personal stories associated with

I have had English sparkling wine occasionally and am a fan. Nyetimber Blancs de Blancs is the nectar of the gods. Regarding bubbles in general, I prefer Cava to Prosecco, Franciacorta I will always order, and Champagne I could drink until the cows come home. These are all made in the traditional Champagne method, whereby second fermentation takes place in the bottle. But when I was offered a sample bottle of Boco, a new English fizz, I was intrigued. It is made according to

Having sold over 80 million records the “Princess of Pop”, Kylie Minogue OBE, has now become the princess of popping corks. Her eponymous wine range burst onto the scene in 2020 and sold more than a million bottles within its first year. The multi-award-winning singer, songwriter, actor, philanthropist, breast cancer awareness campaigner, style icon and now Creative Director of a highly successful premium wine brand, has been “unbelievably humbled and thrilled by the global

Morrisons has exclusively launched the new vintage of Kylie Minogue’s rosé in stores and online. Kylie’s new pink drink is made from a blend of Provençal grape varieties including Grenache, Cinsault and Rolle. It is a pale peach colour with aromas of pink grapefruit, watermelon and lemon blossom. Crisp, dry with zesty fruits and a silky finish. This is a rosé that can be enjoyed all-year-round, either on its own or paired with seafood and warm winter salads. This is Kylie’s

Brits love their Prosecco so much that Wine Events Scotland offers regular masterclasses and events in Scotland. Diana Thompson, founder of the company and Neil Phillips, Prosecco DOC brand ambassador, both champion and promote this Italian sparkling wine to trade and consumers. Their latest event involved, also, the participation of Chef Paul Wedgwood, owner of the eponymous restaurant in the Royal Mile. The original plan was to offer a socially distanced wine tasting at t