December Newsletter

First, the pre-Christmas build up, a whirl of preparations and festivities as we make the most of meeting up with friends and family ahead of the big day.  Then we have Christmas Day itself, followed by Boxing Day and this year, an additional bank holiday on Tuesday 27 December.The month, and year, then goes out with a bang on New Year's Eve. So there is plenty of opportunity to fill those cups with wine, beer or spirits - whatever is your 'vegan tipple'! Happy drinking!

'Tis the season to be jolly...
So now it's December, it's officially the festive season, meaning you'll most likely need to stock up the drinks cabinet, as well as the larder!
Don't worry, we've done all the hard work for you and have created bespoke Christmas Boxes, full of an incredible selection of mixed bottles, to see you through.  
 
First up, for £60 we have the option to purchase six mixed wines including two x fizz:  
 
Escapada Cava Brut - A stream of fine bubbles with pronounced ripe and complex aromatic nose with hints of honey and brioche. 
Bella Modella Prosecco - Crisp, deliciously frothy and filled with ripe apple and citrus fruit character. 

Uvam Pinot Grigio - An ambrosial nose of wonderful floral aroma's, on the palate there’s an abundance of tropical fruit, melon, guava and peach supported by zippy acidity making it mouth-tinglingly moreish.  
Simonsig Chenin Blanc - Aromas of golden delicious apples, pears and a light floral touch.  
'The Wrong Un' Cabernet Sauvignon/Shiraz - Lush black fruits coupled with touches of woodspice, liquorice and cassis follow through to a delicious, velvety finish.  
Man Meets Mountain Malbec - Man Meets Mountain celebrates those that face up to and conquer the challenges posed by nature and brings to you a harmonious Malbec, packed full of blueberry, blackcurrant and plum and a complex and delicious finish. 

For £80 we have the incredible value Christmas Box including a fizz and a white port:  
Simonsig Kaapse Vonkel - Flavours of buttered toast and fresh bread, with touches of roast almonds. The mousse is creamy and elegant with delicate bubbles.  
Villa Wolf Pinot Blanc - Villa Wolf Pinot Blanc is an elegant and easy drinking wine. Fresh and bright aromas come from picking the fruit at the optimal ripeness. Crisp with floral notes and textured stone fruit flavour.  
Funkstille Gruner Veltliner - Subtle exotic hints, ripe pear and fresh citrus flavours, it's a dry wine with complex flavours. The palate is rich with flavours of melon and grapefruit with a refreshing, zippy finish.  
Felino Malbec - Violet red with black tones. An attractive nose with aromas of fresh black fruits and prunes.  
Cartlidge Browne Cabernet Sauvignon - This Cabernet starts out with rich, delicious red fruits on the nose that flows into cherry, watermelon, candied plum and crème brûlée.  
Delaforce White Port - Pale colour and medium sweetness.  

And for £90 we have the incredible value Christmas Box including a fizz and a tawny port. 
This is the same as the £80 box but the white port is replaced with the Delaforce Tawny Port 10 Years Old - This sumptuous and richly flavoured tawny port is matured for ten years in seasoned oak casks. It combines ripe jammy fruit aromas with the rich mellow flavours of wood ageing and displays the characteristic elegance, balance and harmony of the Delaforce house style. Rich and round on the palate.

Each of these Christmas boxes represent great value for money and will definitely help make your jingle bells rock! 

Luxe gifting...

For those special people in your life (vegan or, indeed, non-vegans who still deserve the very best quality tipple!) we have a fabulous range of gifts...
Champagne Drappier Carte D'or Brut gift set including two beautiful glasses  Here we have a very special bottle of vegan champagne, which arrives beautifully presented in this sumptuous yellow gift box, accompanied by two fine champagne flutes from which to enjoy the bubbles! "A Pinot Noir-based champagne of style and finesse, Carte d'Or offers delicate aromas of white peach, quince and a touch of spice. The dru, elegant palate shows an impressive degree of concentration, along with fine bubbles and a long, crisp finish." £39.50

Champagne Drappier Rose Brut This is the perfect gift for fans of pink bubbles! "A beautifully balanced style of rosé: elegant yet full of character. Pretty red berry aromas lead to a delicate palate of summer fruit and herbs, finishing crisply dry and refreshing." £41.50

Simonsig Kaapse Vonkel, 2020 and Simonsig Kaapse Vonkel Rosé, 2020

Quite frankly, here at Vegan Tipples HQ, we can't imagine a Christmas holiday period without these two delicious bottles of fizz to look forward to and enjoy!

Simonsig Kaapse Vonkel, 2020:
"Delicious floral aromas with a lovely yeastiness, the Chardonnay adds a touch of citrus freshness. Flavours of buttered toast and fresh bread, with touches of roast almonds. The mousse is creamy and elegant with delicate bubbles.
Simonsig Kaapse Vonkel Rosé, 2020:
"The aromas of rose petals and red berries dominate the nose and reveal its red grape origins. The mousse is fine and enthusiastic and brings out the floral and yeasty aromas in the mouth. A mouthfilling roundness on the palate shows ample fresh fruit intensity and body which is perfectly balanced by a subtle acid structure that leads to a crisp and refreshing dry finish. A wine to celebrate your most romantic moments."

These are delightful on their own of course, but make a really wonderful present when gifted as the pair!  At £15.50 a bottle , even gifting as a pair will you set you back less than most bottles of champagne!

Benromach Organic

The ultimate gifting solution for those who enjoy a tipple of whisky to toast the festivities and see in the New Year!  
 "Pour yourself a dram of this beautiful Speysider, lift it to the light and notice the golden brown colour, imparted by our virgin oak casks. Even the wood we use for maturing the spirit is an intrinsic part of producing this beautifully balanced Organic Single Malt Whisky, a world-first when it was launched.
With that in mind, enjoy the sumptuous aroma without water. It’s delightfully sweet and malty at first, and after a few inhalations you may detect vanilla, toffee and banana influences coming through. Enjoy the taste without water. Roll it around your mouth and savour the creamy pepper and sweet fruit flavours, particularly ripe bananas.
Add a trickle of water to release the whisky and take in the aroma with water.  Fresh and malty with darker, delicious hints of coffee and cocoa. You may smell some vanilla notes, and a touch of the fruit bowl coming through once again - this time with citrus fruits, especially lemons. Now for the taste with water.
The smooth and mellow body has an exotic carnival feel with some gorgeous chilli spice and tropical fruit flavours, balanced with creaminess and a dark chocolate edge: a mouth-watering balance with a smooth and long finish." £44.25

Pickering's Gin with Scottish Botanicals

For the gin lovers in your life how about a gin with a Scottish twist?  Pickering's make their gin in a distillery they built in the heart of Edinburgh.  This tartan-clad Pickering's Gin with Scottish Botanicals is distilled with four indigenous Scottish botanicals - heather, milk thistle, boy myrtle and Scots Pine which lend sweet, earthy and floral notes to their Bombay recipe, giving it a smooth and stirring spirit.

"Delicately floral with a definite punch of lemony citrus. Dominant pine notes flood the nose with earthy heather follow on, underpinning the energised juniper. Emerging sweetness shines through to reveal a delicately smooth finish." £36

Great baubles of gin!

These baubles are a really fabulous gift. With each of the six baubles featuring a unique Christmassy creations!

"Each gin is distilled in Pickering's copper pot still Gertrude, hand-crafted using their award-winning gin as a base. 
Christmas Clementine - Tasting Notes: A zesty and sweet gin with vibrant orange citrus notes.  Perfect Serve: Makes a sensationally moreish G&T with star anise and orange zest.
Festive Cranberry - Tasting Notes: Sumptuously fresh and fruity gin with tart red berry notes, balanced with Bombay spice.  Perfect Serve: Serve up Christmas classic with premium tonic and a fresh lime wheel.
Spiced Pear & Cinnamon  - Tasting Notes: An aromatic blend of warming cinnamon with mouth-watering fresh, ripe pears.  Perfect Service: Serve with a lemon twist and cinnamon stick for a warming winter P&T.
Figgy Pudding - Tasting Notes: a boozy, plump gin full of dried fruits with a toffee and biscuity finish.  Perfect Serve: An indulgent, decadently spiced G&T with a flamed orange zest. 
Plum & Ginger - Tasting Notes: A pink gin with intense notes of ripe, juicy plums and warming ginger spice. Leaves a lingering subtle sweetness on the palate.   The Perfect Serve: A zingy and fresh gin and tonic to be served with a slice of plum and ginger.
Brussels Sprout - We know it sounds bonkers, but the humble sprout delivers a pleasantly sweet, slightly nutty gin, perfect for mixing - Tasting Notes: don’t let its distinctive "sprouty" nose fool you, our Brussels Sprout gin finishes with a delightfully herbaceous, fresh green pepper twang.  The Perfect Serve: try it neat with foolhardy friends or mix into a savoury style G&T with the addition of a cucumber slice."
£28

 
New product alert!  

We are absolutely thrilled to have two new incredible vegan spirits starring in the Vegan Tipples catalogue.
The Isle of Barra Distillers Ltd story begins only as far back as 2016. Born from a desire to move home to the Outer Hebrides in the far North West of Scotland, and build something that will evoke the community spirit, founders Katie and Michael Morrison started developing the plans for a Gin and Whisky Distillery.
The fruits of their labour are something very special indeed...

Barra Island Dark Rum
"This rum delivers the elicit connection of the land and sea. An unbreakable bond and exhibit of Barra.
Carrying the essence of  maritime nature, bringing Barra to the fore, home and away.  Infused in their Outer Hebridean Island with carrageen seaweed, coconut, cardamom and orange, among a host of other botanicals.
A presence of coconut and clove to start, shortly followed by a crisp maritime freshness. A depth of coconut and brown sugar enhancement, with a clean and dry presence. A complex warmth of cardamom to conclude."  £37.50

Barra Atlantic Gin

"The adventurous spirit of the Barra people inspires this unique gin. The award-winning Barra Atlantic Gin is distilled from 17 specially selected botanicals, capturing the essence of the beautiful island. With the key botanicals hand foraged from the shores that surround their Island home on the edge of the Atlantic.The signature botanical, the carrageen seaweed, is what makes this gin special. Also known by its scientific name chondrus crispus, carrageen seaweed is a red algae native to the cool Atlantic waters skirting europe’s rocky coastlines, including the beautiful Isle of Barra.Like many of the other seaweed varieties found on the Scottish coast, carrageen is harvested after the spring tides, when the water is furthest from the shore. Once harvested, each piece of carrageen seaweed is washed through with fresh water and left outdoors for 5-6 weeks for the wind and sun to dry or ‘bleach’ as it is known on Barra.Once the carrageen has dried and has changed colour to a light white/purple it is then ready to be used to create this award-winning spirit, the Barra Atlantic Gin.Each botanical plays an important part in our gin, which creates a unique and distinctive flavour that embodies the fearless Island spirit. Foraged from the shores of our remote Isle of Barra, Carrageen seaweed provides a bold, maritime flavour, with a mentholic lean and a pinch of salty air." £37

Our festive Wine Tasting evening on Friday 9 December has already sold out.

 We have just a few places left on Saturday 10 December. 
If you'd love to join us for what promises to be a wondrous, festive event, please book early to avoid any disappointment.  It's amazingly good value for money at just £15 a ticket. You will get to enjoy six wines, including a fizz and delicious vegan snacks are also provided.

Don't forget, we offer private Wine Tasting events too, so if you'd like a special evening with friends in the comfort of your own home, or to host an office party with a difference, please just e-mail Vegan Tipples Founder and Director, Susan, using the link below! We'd love to hear from you and talk about how we can provide the perfect, bespoke evening for you and your guests!

There are many reasons why you may wish to refrain from drinking alcohol this December, but don't worry; low or no alcohol doesn't have to mean low or no enjoyment!

We have an alcohol free sparkling wine, a low alcohol craft lager and two fabulous no alcohol wines from Oddbird.

Moa Gürbüzer founded Oddbird in 2013 to question and change societies norms around alcohol and offer a quality alternative… liberated from alcohol.  Creating modern, world-class wines with zero alcohol is a skill, shaped by tradition and made possible through innovation. Achieving the distinct pure taste with high complexity doesn’t just happen. It involves a wine-making process with minimal intervention and relentless attention to every detail. From the choice of grapes and vineyard site, to fermentation, alcohol removal and bottling… a vision towards transforming drinking culture with quality in mind!

Visit the website to find out more about our no / low alcohol range.

 
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

May we take this opportunity to wish all of our Vegan Tipples customers a very Merry Christmas and all wonderful things for the New Year!
Thank you for your custom in 2022.  We really look forward to serving you in 2023 and bringing you all the very best 'Vegan Tipples' from around the globe.  "Happy drinking!"