Unfiltered: Fergus Watson

The head sommelier for Cail Bruich, which is Glasgow’s first Michelin restaurant in eighteen years, talks to Douglas Blyde about how his father previously owned Scotland’s largest label printing business, the “Hospitality Health” charity which he helped co-found, and lunching with Leonardo di Caprio…

What is your vintage?

I was born in Glasgow in 1993 and consider myself Scottish, British and European. One of the two best bottles I tasted from this underrated year was red Beaune Premier Cru Grèves on a visit to Domaine Joseph Drouhin. The lovely thing was that our guide, Cyril Ponnelle didn’t know it was from my birth year. The other was at a tapas bar in the back end of Valencia where I ordered the final bottle of Château La Fleur de Gay, priced at just €40.

What is your background?

I come from a family of sixth-generation label printers. My dad, whose motto is, “illegitimi non carborundum”, being mock-Latin for “don’t let the bastards grind you down”, specialised in printing 35 million whisky labels a week. He later sold the business to a Cincinnati firm in 2013.

Why hospitality?

Aged 17, I had just finished school and didn’t have the grades for university. So, I looked at hospitality, enrolling at City of Glasgow College, which led me to do stages in France. I fondly remember moving around Montpellier, Marseilles, and Aix-en-Provence, drinking lots of rosé in my breaks before lying down, then heading back to work. Many people presume this is where I learned about wine, but it is actually where I found wine was more than a mere drink: it is a vital part of culture, history and lifestyle. A different ballgame over there!

What does Cail Bruich mean?

“Eat well” in Scots Gaelic.

How did you come to join it?

As a teenager, I used to walk past the restaurant along Great Western Road on my way to school, which surprises people. The operations director, Chris Donnachie, was keen for me to come on board, saying “I think you would really enjoy it here.” I almost worked for him before at Martin Wishart at Loch Lomond. I had never worked in a restaurant not situated in a hotel before now.

Where did you work before?

At Number One at The Balmoral, Edinburgh which must be one of the most beautiful dining rooms in the UK, working under Glen Montgomery, who is now running Heron in Leith. Given that I only worked 45 to 50 hours a week at The Balmoral, I had free time to study for my WSET diploma which I passed in January with merit. Only four people passed all the exams first time out of an initial seventeen.

What did you do during the lockdown?

A lot of studying towards the diploma, including sharing wines, via sanitised doorstep bottle drops, with fellow somms and industry professionals who lived equidistant from one another. A good way to get seven kilometres under my belt.

Who has been your mentor?

Glen Montgomery, who is both a great mentor and an even better friend. I still text when I’m struggling with a pairing – and now he does the same to me. He pushed me to do the diploma. And Gary Quinn of The Balmoral, who is a lovely guy and good with staff. He really understands that there is more to running a restaurant than putting cutlery and plates down and lifting it back up.

What is Hospitality Health? (hospitalityhealth.org.uk)

A charity started in August 2018, of which I am a co-founding trustee with Gordon McIntyre, who was my lecturer at City of Glasgow College, aiming to help create a healthier working environment in the Scottish hospitality sector. Too often people within it resort to gambling, drugs, and excessive drinking and smoking. I wanted to help people in this industry get unjudgmental help. We run mental health first aid courses throughout Scotland to show operators what to look for – trigger movements – in people who might need help. At Cail Bruich and Bar Brett, £1 from every bill goes to support the charity, while some guests often leave a little extra.

What else could you have been?

Many jobs in the service industry would have been great. I take a lot of pride in looking after people. Wine is a way of connecting people to one another and bridging cultures; it just so happens to be tasty and get you drunk.

What is your favourite Champagne at Cail Bruich?

Champagne-wise, we feature Delamotte, the prism-like Salon, and we work closely with the firework in a bottle that is Krug, given chef Lorna is part of the Krug Ambassade. At our Scottish elmwood chef’s table, we show a single ingredient dish alongside a current expression, being Grande Cuvée 169ème Édition with a celebration of the humble onion.

Why do you solely focus on Old World wines?

Given that we focus on local ingredients, we have no New World wines. I don’t understand why in the UK we feel that we must drink New Zealand wines from the other side of the world when we could pour for example Pouilly-Fumé. On that note, I tried to get the Gerard Basset scholarship to go to the Loire, from which you can find every style of wine along the river. Similarly, I’m seeing older guests who tell me they haven’t drunk Rioja in years but now love Argentinian Malbec. I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. I feel we are living in a constant state of divide with Scottish independence always looming and Brexit having come in and made life for the wine industry very tough. I understand why people love New World wines when they are so easily accessible in shops and on the palate. However, I would like people to remember that Europe is just over the water and we cannot lose our historic connections with them despite all the fallout of Brexit.

What is an exciting pour via Coravin?

A massive focus falls on our wine flights of which we have three. Indeed, many wines do not feature on the list and may only be on for one or two weeks before I run out! From our Prestige wine flight, we currently feature Sercial 1971 Madeira. Many come for the Yquem but stay for this!

What dish by head chef, Lorna McNee would you pair the Madeira with?

Mushrooms on toast, being a dish with humble origins. It was inspired by the weekly staff breakfast cooked by one of our chefs, Michael, who actually worked at Noma rather than being one of the many interns who said they worked there. He made staff food with the understanding that you cannot look after the guest until you can look after one another. Chef Lorna went on to design the dish around this idea. The dish also works with Josko Gravner’s neo-aggressive 2012 Ribolla Gialla, which still feels young despite spending 120 days on skins, then four years in amphorae. Yet with the dish, it becomes beautifully relaxed. I never want to see this dish come off the menu.

Do you prefer Albariño or Chenin Blanc?

Chenin, which is a jack of all trades – you can do an entire tasting menu with it. I also love sweet wine!

What grape and style don’t you get along with?

There is no such thing as a bad variety, just poor winemaking, as seen with unnecessarily natural wines. Come on guys, many stink – just use a pinch of sulphur. Stop being so fucking proud!

Who is the most famous person you have ever looked after during your career?

The greatly outgoing Vanessa Hudgens and her mother, who was one of the funniest people I’ve met. They came to Number One at The Balmoral on Christmas Day, sitting at the quiet corner table which is my favourite. Her mum wanted to try every sweet wine on the trolley which Vanessa found so embarrassing!

What is the best table at Cail Bruch?

Table six in the window next to the door, from which you can nip out and take calls if you have to while keeping a good eye on both the wine station and the kitchen.

What has been an embarrassing service mistake?

Losing control of a bottle of Sumarroca Cava at the table of a young couple celebrating their first anniversary. It had definitely taken a knock before being handed to me and it sprayed all over me, though I made sure not a drop hit the floor. “Is that meant to happen?” asked the gentleman. I played it cool, pouring a couple of large glasses, before getting them a fresh bottle and going to change.

What is your favourite book?

“Setting the Table: The Transforming Power of Hospitality in Business” by Daniel Meyer, an imperative read for people in our industry wanting to become well-rounded individuals and to work with having your colleagues in mind not only the guest. Also, “How To Win Friends and Influence People” by Dale Carnegie, taught me many lessons including the importance of remembering peoples’ names and how to handle awkward situations.

And podcast?

“I’ll Drink to That!” hosted by Levi Dalton. (illdrinktothatpod.com)

Tell us something surprising about yourself?

I once had lunch with Leonardo di Caprio.

Where do you dine on your days off?

Playing golf, seeing family, trying restaurants and tasting wines with friends.

What are your mottos?

“Drink wine, not labels.”

How is Glasgow’s food scene changing?

The food scene is always changing: a spate of great restaurants coming though like Ka Pao, Celentano’s and Glasgow’s second Michelin guide entry in recent years, UNALOME by Graeme Cheevers.  A great friend of mine, Stuart Bonis, runs the establishment.

What other venues feature in the “Cultar” group which owns Cail Bruich?

I am always on hand to offer advice at our wine bar, Bar Brett, where just about everything is cooked over coals on a custom elevation ox-grill by the wonderfully down-to-earth Canadian chef, Ronan Shaftoe, who is formerly of Yardbird, Hong Kong. From Sunday to Tuesday he does a yakitori menu, helping make it one of the best eateries in the city in my opinion. And then there’s the all-day Epicures by Cail Bruich in the heart of Hyndland, and, just opened is Shucks, our wonderful fish-based fish brasserie with a Champagne trolley and cocktails.

Finally, what do you look for when hiring?

As Danny Meyer says, we try to hire “51 percenters” – staff with a high “hospitality quotient (HQ)” whose skills are 49 per cent technical and 51 per cent emotional. We can teach you service,  we cannot teach you to care. We raise people who then spread the Cail Bruich ethos at our other venues.

Cail Bruich – 725 Great Western Road, Glasgow, G12 8QX; 0141 334 6265; info@cailbruich.co.uk; cailbruich.co.uk