5 Reasons to buy Saint Amans Gin

Anne MacColl-Turpin and Jean-Louis Turpin are artisan producers of grape alcohol based French gin, created, distilled, bottled and shipped from the Saint Amans Gin Barn in SW France.

5 reasons to buy Saint Amans Gin

1. Anne (French-Scottish) and Jean-Louis (French-French) launched Saint Amans Gin in summer of 2019 and have already won Best French Gin and the Bronze Design Awards at the World Gin Awards 2020. The move from Scotland to France last year was for JL to get back to his roots, feel better in mind and body as he has Parkinson’s, and do something he loves from his many years in the food and drink industry.

2. Saint Amans gin normally sells via small distributors in Scotland and in France, to high end bars, hotels, cafes and wine shops. For the months of April and May, we are now selling directly to friends (parce que vous êtes tous nos amis), and friendly wine shops including free shipping to UK and France for a minimum of 6 bottles using our special lockdown/stock-up code – AMIS6

3. Saint Amans Gin is sustainable and circular economy friendly. Made from “grape marc”, the organic by-product from Languedoc grapes.

4. In these times, it feels good to drink delicious gin produced from from 18 natural and organic ingredients from a pollution-free environment in South West France.

5. Loved by French and UK sommeliers, reviewers describe Saint Amans Gin as “smooth, delicious, delicate and complex”. We are proudly French, authentic, premium, gluten-free. We’d love you to try it and we welcome your feedback.

Made with love in Occitanie, South of France, we deliver across France and the UK, from our barn to your door.

Find our shop at www.saintaman.com. Bonne degustation!

5 reasons to buy wine from Dunleavy Vineyards

In our latest 5 reasons post Ingrid Bates of Dunleavy Vineyards in Somerset argues why you should support a really small producer.

"About 70% of my wine is normally sold to restaurants so with all of them closed currently we’ve been trying to spread the word about our offer of free local delivery and now free UK mainland delivery.

I’m lucky to live in a city where people love local produce so as word spreads I am getting quite a few orders locally and across the UK. I am hoping this may change the buying behaviour of people who normally only buy from bigger retailers. It’s fun to try good local wine."

5 reasons to buy from us:

1. Have a direct, positive impact with a tiddly producer. Despite social media appearances, Dunleavy wine is the product of two people; grower and business owner Ingrid & winemaker Steve all based in Bristol/Somerset.

2. Our wines are really good! That should be the first reason or equal first if that’s possible. The proof is in the fact that some of the best restaurants in Bristol, Bath and London normally sell our wine.

3. We try new things and aren’t tied to convention - we have an unusual sparkly red that is amazing.*

4. We aren’t organic but grow as sustainably as we can - we love nature and wildlife (Ingrid has a background in Biology and Entomology).

5. Our wines are fun! We have very cool labels and love sharing our story on social media. You can follow the seasons of our growing year on social media (insta/Facebook/Twitter) as the various stages of the vineyard year pass.

You can order from us online at http://www.dunleavyvineyards.co.uk

and find us on

instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dunleavyvineyards/

twitter: http://twitter.com/DYvineyards

facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dunleavy-vineyards-367937737674/

* I also love their pinot noir rosé FB.

5 reasons to support Square Food Foundation's Squaremeal project

This is a project dear to my heart. Square Food Foundation is an incredible initiative in Knowle West, one of the most deprived areas of Bristol teaching local people to cook and providing a training for young adults in the community.

Unable to give classes during the Covid-19 crisis they have transformed their kitchen to provide free, delicious and healthy meals for local children and families specifically those that rely on free school meals. They hope to work with other schools and extend this service to reach more children and families that are at risk of hunger.

Easter weekend saw Square Food deliver meal kits to families, on top of their daily meal provision. The kits included the ingredients and recipes they needed to make pasta and tomato sauce at home the idea being to provide families with one more meal and something fun to do together.

"Our plan is to continue this as long as it takes and as long as we have the funds and resources to do so - certainly until the end of August." says Square Food's director Barny Haughton. "We have had some amazing support; donations through the Square Food localgiving page, volunteer chef support and food from many different food businesses including restaurants.

But the project is costing about £4k a week. We are taking each week at a time. But we know it is a lifeline for families at this particularly challenging time - not just the meals everyday but on other levels too.

Here are 5 reasons why your contribution could help us feed the families who are at greatest risk of going hungry.

1. Whilst many families will benefit from the free school meal vouchers issued by the government, there are some that will fall through the net for many reasons – even as obvious as not having access to an email account

2. There are no proper supermarkets in Knowle West. Many families rely on local convenience stores which have limited stock (especially now) and are usually more expensive.

3. Square Food has a well-established relationship with the Oasis Academy Connaught school and the families whose children attend it. This meal service is a way of keeping this important connection going. Along with the school staff who deliver the meals to the families, we are a familiar and cheerful face.

4. It costs just £30 to provide a child with a month of meals. It's a small local project but one to which your donation could make a real difference.

5. Supporting the #SquareMeals project now will not only provide a daily meal for some of Bristol's most vulnerable people, it will also ensure the Square Food Foundation can survive until we're able to resume our normal work – central to which is enabling people to gain the skills and knowledge to feed themselves well in any situation.

Bristol has 20,000 children living in poverty and 11,000 children eligible for free school meals. If you want to support our vital work please click here to contribute.

5 Reasons to buy Paso-Primero wines

Paso-Primero is a small family-run company making award-winning wines in the Spanish Pyrenees. Coming from Shrewsbury in Shropshire we might not have expected to fall into the wine industry but since discovering it we’ve definitely made the most of our opportunities.

What we don't have in wealthy benefactors or family estates we more than make up for with a huge amount of passion for what we do. Check out one of our case deals on www.paso-primero.com and see how we’ve achieved that dream.

5 reasons to buy from us:

- You get award winning wines at table-friendly prices.

- We make fruit-forward, approachable, pass-me-another-glass wines which are bright, fresh, young and proud of it!

- You will be supporting a small family business.

- We have exclusive case rates and and can make bespoke orders tailored to suit your tastes.

- Buying direct from the producer means the person who made the wine is packing your case, plus your money goes further!

All of our wines are available on our website and some of our merchants are still selling too including Tanners, Whalley, Country Wines, Vinotopia and Kelder.

You can find us at www.paso-primero.com and @paso-primero on Twitter and @pasoprimero on instagram. Contact us at info@paso-primero.com

And maybe a sixth reason . . . They didn't mention it in their post but Tom and Emma also had to contend with the horrendous floods in Shrewsbury earlier in this year. "Being Shropshire locals we sell most of our wine in the county so we took a hefty blow with the floods and some businesses we work with opened for barely a day before shutting again" says Tom. "Nobody has had a good run but it does feel like we have our fair share to get through in 2020. We launched the business six months before the Brexit vote though so we’re used to dealing with chaos! "