New owner for a Scottish treasure

Published: 23 July, 2008

Scottish restaurant The Peat Inn, famous for its extensive wine list, has been sold to Geoffrey Smeddle, currently head chef at Etain, Sir Terence Conran's fine dining restaurant in Glasgow.

Smeddle told Harpers that as a first-time buyer he cannot afford to open the restaurant with the full wine list compiled by previous chef/proprietor David Wilson, although wine will remain a very important concern and we hope to open the restaurant with at least 200 to 250 listings'.

The current cellar is worth around 90,000, according to Smeddle, and although he will be keeping part of this collection and buying wines direct from Wilson, he also intends to add some of his own choices and to gradually build the list back up to size over time.

David makes no secret that he's a Francophile and although we intend to keep some of the stunning and idiosyncratic wines on the list, I'd also like to add wines from countries such as Italy and Spain, which are currently unrepresented.'

Smeddle and his wife, Katherine, will move into The Peat Inn on 12 June.

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