Fiona’s Story
In Neolithic Scotland, where myths and reality blurred, lived Fiona, a girl whose curiosity would ferment into legend. She is said to have been the first to capture the spirit of fermentation in a sweet, honeyed drink, now known as mead.
Her story reminds us that simple curiosity can blossom into traditions that can come to shape our history and culture.
The crisp Scottish air carried the scent of pine, heather and lavender as Fiona wandered through the patchwork fields near her village.
While other girls played with dolls, Fiona immersed herself in herbs, flowers, and the inherited knowledge of her parents’ crafts.
Her father, a master craftsman, revered the birch tree.
He shaped its sturdy wood into boats and brewed tea from its leaves, tapped its sap for a sweet, invigorating tonic, and harvested the chaga mushrooms which grew on its bark for medicine.
Fiona watched, fascinated, as he worked wood and fungus with equal reverence.
Her mother had a gentler touch. Her domain was the apiary, a haven buzzing with the industrious hum of bees.
Fiona adored the sweet scent of honey that clung to her mother's clothes and the way she calmed the buzzing insects with soothing smoke.
Fiona was gifted with an extraordinary sense of smell. She could identify plants by scent alone and understand the subtleties of each aroma. To her, every herb and flower was a note in nature’s symphony. Guided by this instinct, she crafted drinks unlike any the villagers had known - each a unique blend of honey, wild berries, herbs, and blossoms. The villagers affectionately called them “Fiona’s Fizzy Concoctions,” though some sensed there was real magic in each bubbling cup.
One crisp autumn evening, Fiona added fermented blueberries to her elderflower-and-honey brew. It erupted into a fizzy, glowing drink that warmed the soul and sparked the senses. She had captured something wild and powerful - an essence of the season itself.
She began storing her creations deep in the mountain caves, where the cool, constant air transformed them over weeks into richer, more mysterious potions. These natural cellars, hidden from the sun, became her secret laboratory.
Word of Fiona’s latest brew spread quickly. The villagers came, curious and skeptical. One sip, and skepticism melted into smiles. The drink was sweet and tangy, floral and warm - a taste no one could name, but all remembered.
They called it Mead, after the meadowsweet that gave it its character. It became the first widely-enjoyed alcoholic drink in Scotland, spreading far beyond Fiona’s village. Grapes were scarce in the damp northern lands, but honey was abundant… And so mead flourished.
Legends say the Gaelic word for “wine” - fìon - honors Fiona, the girl with brown hair and a gift for turning scent into song. Whether true or myth, her story lingers like the warm buzz of honey on the tongue.
Fiona, the girl who listened to the land and followed her nose, left behind more than a drink. She left a tradition, a celebration of nature, and a reminder that history is often brewed in the quiet curiosity of a single mind.
Wine making has come a long way in the last 5,000 years.
At La Cave à Vin we still enjoy the time-honoured tradition of savouring a glass of fine wine with friends after a long day.