Sponsored Content: In the second of our wine columns with Matthew Clark and Tennent’s Direct, SLTN visited The Bothy Glasgow to talk top quality wine with general manager Jaimi Mullen.
The Bothy, on Ruthven Lane, offers customers a seasonally-changing menu of the best Scottish produce, paired with a select wine list that combines the classic with the unusual. The venue is part of the Scotsman Hospitality group.
The Dish
Slow roast lamb shoulder and wild garlic roulade, artichoke barigoule, spring vegetables, ratte potatoes, basil
The Wine
Catarratto
(Naturalmente Bio)
Sicily
Bottle: £37
Can you describe the customer demographic at The Bothy?
Jaimi: “We used to have an older demographic, but we’ve tried to broaden the appeal, and part of that is the wine range. The younger market is looking for different wines. I think people now are going out a bit less, but when they do go out they’re looking for that premium experience. People will buy nicer wines, and I think the younger demographic is looking for something a bit different – biodynamic, natural wines, that kind of thing.”
How do you approach putting together your wine list at The Bothy?
“We keep it quite tight. We don’t have a huge list. We don’t have a set sommelier. We now have five people with the WSET level three, and we’ve got a few with WSET level two.
“If you want to keep your staff engaged and the knowledge quite high I think it’s better to have a much more condensed wine list rather than this big list where you’ve got so many wines. A lot of them will just sit there and you won’t sell them for months.
“So we keep it quite tight. Usually 11 whites, 11 reds, an orange wine and five sparkling wines and a couple of rosés.
“We also do a couple on the Coravin wine preservation system. We do that for premium wines, so people can try a glass of something they might not be able to stretch to a bottle of.”
How important is it to be able to pair the right wine with the right dish?
“People are always looking for a recommendation for whichever dish. We’ve got the classic suggestion of, if you’re having lamb, say, a Chianti, but we can also offer something else, maybe a richer white wine. It’s good to give people recommendations they maybe wouldn’t have thought of.
“I think people can be a bit narrow in how they see wine pairing. A white wine will go with lamb, as long as it’s got the right characteristics.”
What makes this wine particularly well suited to the dish?
“I’ve chosen the Cataratto, because I like pairing white wines with lamb. It needs to be a richer wine, and it’s had skin contact so it’s got that tannic sort of structure. It doesn’t get lost (in the dish).
“When you’re pairing wine and food, you don’t want one to overpower the other. So if you’re going to pick a white it needs to be something that’s kind of rich. The Cataratto has got a little bit of funk.”
How important a customer is The Bothy and Scotsman Hospitality?
David Simpson, key account manager, Tennent’s: “Tennent’s is proud to support The Bothy Glasgow as their wine supplier, continuing our strong partnership with the Scotsman Group. We’ve worked closely to curate a versatile, high-quality wine list that complements the Bothy’s menu and enhances the guest experience. It’s about delivering the right wines for the right moment — every time.”
matthewclark.co.uk
