WELCOME TO AN ENTERTAINMENT SITE FOR SCOTTISH COUNTRY DANCERS!
Enjoy this curated selection of theme-related dances for celebrations and holidays, or find a dance associated with a special calendar day, or EVEN your own birthday!
Feb 18
Drink Wine Day
Don't Spill the Wine
Other Scottish Country Dances for this Day
Today's Musings, History & Folklore
"I meant to sip with noble grace,
Not irrigate the dining place;
The wine is gone, the glass still mine —
My shirt, however, now drinks wine."
~ Don't Spill the Wine
Looking for a party-night challenge to honor one of the many calendar days devoted to the noble grape?
Sure, you could host a refined wine tasting with your favorite wine from your wine-producing region of your choice... or you could try this cheerful dance medley instead!
It may be performed with cups of water, wine, whisky, or whatever you fancy. The true test of this strathspey and jig medley is whether you can transfer your glass to the correct hand fast enough to let the other one turn, cast, wheel… or flail artistically.
Spills count as choreography.
Sips count as strategy.
Refills count as commitment.
At the very least, no one will get thirsty. 🤪
This dance was created for the Pawling Weekend 2024 (New York, USA) as a ceilidh act celebrating French culture for the RSCDS Dance Around the World theme — and dedicated to the heroic organizing committee who clearly trusted dancers with beverages far more than dancers trust themselves.
The demonstration team bravely attempted the figures while carrying the iconic Red Solo Cups and not spilling a drop! Red Solo Cups are deeply associated with American culture, particularly as symbols of college parties, barbecues, and casual gatherings. While they originated in the U.S. in the 1970s and are widely used domestically, their iconic status has made them somewhat of a global cultural symbol.
So whether you favour wines from France, Spain, New Zealand, Australia, California, Chile/Argentina, or make your own (!) raise a toast to dance and your dancing friends on this "Drink Wine" Day! 💜 ❤️ 💜 🍇 🍇 🍇 🍷 🍷 🍷
Don't Spill the Wine
The world’s wine production is dominated by a handful of regions with long viticultural histories and ideal climates for growing grapes: France, Italy, Spain, and the United States collectively contribute a large share of global wine output, with France often ranking at the top in recent years.
These regions are known for iconic areas such as Bordeaux and Burgundy in France, Tuscany and Piedmont in Italy, Rioja in Spain, and Napa Valley in California, each with distinctive grape varieties and styles that have helped shape international wine culture.
Scotland isn’t widely known for traditional grape wine due to its cool climate, which makes consistent grape ripening difficult. Instead, many Scottish wineries focus on fruit wines—fermented beverages made from berries and other locally abundant fruits rather than grapes. These products fall under the broader definition of wine when fermentation produces alcohol, but they reflect Scotland’s adaptation to its environment.
However, there is an innovator in Scotland!
Cairn o’ Mohr is one of Scotland’s most established and distinctive wine producers, operating since 1987 in the Carse of Gowrie, Perthshire—a fertile agricultural area known historically for apples, pears, and plums.
Founded by Ron and Judith Gillies with very modest beginnings, the winery focuses on local fruit wines made by traditional fermentation and maturation for at least a year.
Products: Their core lineup includes strawberry, raspberry, bramble, elderberry, and oak leaf wines, with sparkling variations and seasonal limited editions created in response to local harvests and farmer partnerships. They also produce Scottish bottled cider and non-alcoholic elderflower and elderberry drinks.
For more on their interesting selection, click the bottles!
Click the dance cribs or description below to link to a printable version of the dance!
