For the latest in our series of wine columns with Inverarity Morton, SLTN visited The Voyage of Buck in Edinburgh to talk about the venue’s new wine list with owners Colin Church and Martin Luney and general manager Stuart Brown.
Part of Edinburgh hospitality group Big Red Teapot, along with sister venue The Blackbird, The Voyage of Buck opened its doors in 2016. The offer revolves around a seasonally-changing menu of fresh Scottish ingredients paired with quality cocktails and a recently-revamped wine list.
How would you describe the wine list at The Voyage of Buck?
Stuart Brown, general manager: “Our customer base is middle-income. And it works well that there’s wines on our list that reflect every taste. There’s some big hitters like the Barolos, which people buy forever. But there’s also some strange things, like a New Zealand Veltliner, which is a bit different, and a Pinot Gris from France.”
Colin Church, co-owner: “If you go back 18 years when Martin and I got together, one thing that was really important to us at the beginning was having a really good house white, red and rosé.”
What about the food offer? How do you approach your menu?
Martin Luney, co-owner: “We do five menus a year so everything we do is seasonal, local. We do five small plates and five large plates, and then they change with the seasons. We have a spring menu, a summer menu, an autumn menu and a winter menu and then we have a stand-alone December menu (the spring menu was in place when SLTN visited the venue).
“We’re working with great suppliers and we change it constantly. When you have a small menu you have to change it constantly.”
Which wines would you pair with your spring menu and why?
Stuart: “With the baby carrot tartine, because it’s quite buttery, either the Domaine Galetis Chardonnay would work well with it, or if you wanted something to counteract it probably the L’ami de Crustaces Pinot Blanc, which comes from a great little vineyard in France.
“With the Denhead asparagus I would either say a Pinot Noir – and we have an amazing one from Germany – which is nice and light. Or there’s the Les Jeantels Picpoul, which has the saline and the citrus elements to it.
“With the ricotta agnolotti the Telmont Reserve Champagne would be amazing. Really clean cut-through.
“And with our venison dish, the Ensedune Malbec from France is great. It’s got a bit of pepper in there. And the Springfontein Akua’Ba, the South African red. Because it is a bit jammy it works well with the beetroot in the dish.”
Why do you like working with Inverarity Morton?
Martin: “For me I would say Tom (Clarkson, regional sales manager) is very good in terms of wine tasting and wine experimentation, which can be very gate-keepery, and I think the whole ‘knowledge is power’ thing can be really unfair to the next generation coming through. Tom is really good at explaining the wines and explaining things that are possibly new or more interesting or more progressive to the younger demographic. Some of our staff are 18, 19. They don’t have the same experienced palates as other people. He’s very good in that way.”
How important a customer is Big Red Teapot for Inverarity Morton?
Tom Clarkson, regional sales manager, Inverarity Morton: “I feel very privileged to be working with Big Red Teapot. You couldn’t meet a more passionate team who are always striving to offer a varied and exciting range of wines for their customers. Regular wine list updates and training sessions are invaluable and appreciated by staff and customers alike.”
To find out more about how the Inverarity Morton team can work with you on your wine range visit inveraritymorton.com or email sales@inveraritymorton.com
