A guest told me something once that I have not stopped thinking about since. They said that finding a Malbec that is actually French is uncommon, and that if you do find one, it has a story behind it worth asking about. I did not know at the time how right they were. Most people who order a Malbec anywhere in the world are drinking something from Argentina, and most people, understandably, assume that is simply where the grape comes from. It is not. Malbec is French. It was n

My father visits Edinburgh fairly regularly. Every time he does, we end up at Nectar, which is as it should be. He sits at the bar, catches up with the team, and then does the thing that still makes me laugh every single time: he orders a cocktail. This is a man who almost exclusively drinks wine and beer. He is Czech, which means he was raised on some of the finest lager in the world, in a country that takes its brewing with a seriousness that most nations reserve for things