Bordeaux Today, a series of educational tastings created by Vins de Bordeaux (CIVB), will be taking place in Liverpool and Glasgow this September, following a successful London launch earlier this year. CIVB is inviting members of the wine trade to visit The Arts School (www.theartschoolrestaurant.co.uk) in Liverpool on September 11 from 3-5pm and at The Gannet (thegannetgla.com) in Glasgow on September 17 from 2-4pm.

A new team featuring Justin Knock MW, Damien Jackman, Rosamund Barton, Rupert Ponsonby and Sue Glasgow has been assembled to promote Californian wines in the UK. Business partners Knock and Jackman, owners of London independent wine merchant Philglass & Swiggot, will manage trade representation and serve as brand ambassadors. They have created a new group called Golden State Wines UK through which they will champion…

The Scottish Green Party has launched it own brand of craft beer in the run up to May’s elections. The beer, named Harvie’s Hoptimistic, is named after the party’s co-convenor Patrick Harvie and was launched this week at vegan Glasgow bar, Mono. The beer is a bottle-condititioned pale ale with an abv of 4.2%. It has been created for the party by Glasgow-based craft brewery,…

Scottish beer lovers can sample around 200 local and international brews when Glasgow’s Drygate brewery hosts the Craft Beer Rising festival in September. Craft Beer Rising began in London to help spread the word about the delights of interesting small-batch brews and this year’s event included the likes of Greene King and Fuller’s alongside small producers. The organisers decided to branch out and picked Glasgow…

Glasgow city centre is to become a drinks production hotbed with plans for a new distillery and a brewery. Alloa-based Williams Bros brewery is looking to establish an “urban craft brewery” at Drygate in the shadow of Glasgow cathedral. And Tim Morrison, of the family that once owned Morrison Bowmore Distillers, is leading plans for a £10 million conversion of a former pump house close…