The Radio 4 Food and Farming Awards: In search of winning drinks We were also determined that our three finalists would represent different stories, different elements of what's happening in drink in Britain today. That's why we picked a cider, apple juice and perry specialist (Once Upon a Tree, tucked into the gentle green hills of Herefordshire), a small farm whisky distillery in the wilds of Islay in the Outer Hebrides (Kilchoman) and Kernel Brewery in London. These entries were so strong that they sadly forced vineyards off the list - maybe next year. But it was only when we visited them all to help us pick a winner and record interviews for The Food Programme that we realised quite how much they had in common. All three finalists are relatively new businesses set up by people who, by rights, shouldn't have had a clue what they were doing - as Evin says when asked how he learnt to make beer: "I read books, typed 'how to make beer" into Google... ." Anthony Wills had run an independent business bottling single cask whisky for several years before founding Kilchoman but he'd never had anything to do with making the spirit before - his background was in wine (and he isn't even Scottish). "Aye," as John McLellan, the white-haired distillery manager says when I ask if islanders thought his boss was mad to found the first new distillery on Islay in more than 120 years. Likewise, Simon Day, of Once Upon A Tree, grew up at the Three Choirs vineyard in Gloucestershire, and worked as a professional winemaker before falling under the spell of the Dragon Orchard in Putley, near the Marcle Ridge. Some of the trees in this peaceful place were planted by its owner, Norman Stanier, 50 years ago: "I was sent out as a boy with a spade to plant them one Christmas Day," he told us, as we stood listening to the wind blowing through yellowing leaves, and watching two big pigs gobble up bruised apples. "All three are also revivalists," Food Programme producer Dan Saladino points out. Simon Day is working on a small scale, intent on capturing the taste of old apple varieties in his still ciders, ransacking lone trees in gardens and fields for fruit for his perry. "What we always say is that we're trying to go back to roots," says Anthony Wills at Kilchoman. They don't just have their own floor maltings - one of half-a-dozen or so whisky distilleries in Scotland to do so - they also use barley grown by the farm next door, while in the distillery there are no flashing computer displays; the process is controlled by the men who work here. Evin O'Riordain, at The Kernel, goes even further. He may just have stopped bottling by hand, "though we do it sometimes, you've got to keep the strength up in your arms," but he's making beer to centuries-old recipes retrieved from archives by obsessive bloggers - his dark Export Stout (7.8%abv), which smells of cocoa nibs and roasted coffee, for example, was originally made by a brewery in the capital back in 1890. Probably very good with cheese as well, and Evin would be an expert on which one. The Radio 4 Food and Farming Awards will be given out on Nov 28, and announced on Nov 30. More details on bbc.co.uk/radio4