Inverarity Vaults launches first bar

Inverarity Vaults has opened its first wine bar with a new venture at the Festival Theatre in Edinburgh. Operating under the Scottish merchant’s One to One retail brand, the bar will cater for the 1,915 seat venue which welcomes 450,000 visitors each year.

Offering a range of Champagne, sparkling, white, rosé and red wines, complemented by Inverarity’s own brand whiskies, the One to One list also features a regularly changing list of specials.

Inverarity commissioned award-winning designer Ranald MacColl for the interior to create “a vibrant artistic showpiece that blends Scottish colourist influence with the use of natural Scottish materials.”

The back bar is covered with slate from a disused quarry in Ballachulish, while the peat used in the interspersing brickwork was dug from a bog near Oban.

Commenting on the new venture, Hamish Martin, managing director of Inverarity Vaults, said: "The bar has given us an opportunity to celebrate the connection between wine and the arts in that both are sensory and can give a lot of pleasure.

“We have long supported the arts in Scotland and now we have a vehicle to promote One to One to the arts-loving population. It’s very satisfying to see this all come together in one of the finest venues in the country."

Inverarity already operates One to One wine shops in Edinburgh and Glasgow, with a concession in Ayr.

Gabriel Savage, 07.12.2010