Grape&Grain
Lidl Wine Tour: Bubbles and beyond
Tomorrow’s ‘Wine Tour’ promotion from Lidl includes bubbles from around Europe, writes Peter Ranscombe. PERHAPS – just perhaps – there are a few more reasons to be optimistic. Hugs are back on the agenda, much of Scotland has moved from level three to level two restrictions, and staycations are beckoning this summer. If the weather…
Read MoreAldi v Lidl: Beer festivals go head to head
Peter Ranscombe fetches his bottle opener as he gets to grips with the latest supermarket beer festivals. SUPERMARKET beer festivals are like number 26 buses in Edinburgh. You wait all winter for one and then two come along at once. Lidl’s summer craft beer festival kicked off last week, with Aldi’s spring Scottish beer festival…
Read MoreHolyrood Distillery: A ‘rude’ reawakening in the courtyard
Holyrood Distillery has created a ‘sipping gin’ that’s ideal for its reopened courtyard, as Peter Ranscombe discovers. IN A world with more and more gin, it’s becoming harder and harder to find anything that stands out from the crowd. Yet Holyrood Distillery may have just cracked it. The Edinburgh whisky maker set out to create…
Read MoreWhy South Africa’s wines are ageworthy
Peter Ranscombe gets a sneaky peak at bottles from South Africa going under the hammer at the Cape Fine & Rare Wine Auction. FEW wine-making countries have such a dual persona in Scottish shops as South Africa. Look in a supermarket and South African bottles are often regulated to the bargain basement shelves. Yet delve…
Read MoreSauvignon blanc day: 9 to try
To mark international sauvignon blanc day, Peter Ranscombe reviews examples from Chile, New Zealand, and South Africa. TIME after time, sauvignon blanc keeps topping the charts as the UK’s favourite white wine. Just before the pandemic, Majestic Wine was the latest retailer to shine a light on the grape’s phenomenal success. Sauvignon was its best-selling…
Read MoreWine to Dine – June 2021 – The Harbour Café
Scottish Field wine columnist Peter Ranscombe scours the hills and shores for five bottles to take to the harbour. AS SPRING segues into summer, there’s no better time to visit the coast – or The Harbour Café at Elie, in Fife, which stars in the food feature in June’s issue of Scottish Field magazine. Being…
Read More7 of the best rosés for your bank holiday weekend
If you’re looking for rosés ahead of the May Day bank holiday then Peter Ranscombe has you covered. IS IT really a year since our #stayathome review of rosés? While I’m not counting my sunshine-flapping chickens just yet – especially not for the bank holiday itself – there’s definitely more optimism in the air as…
Read MoreEden Mill: what happens when gin meets wine?
Eden Mill distillery has aged its latest gins in red wine and white wine casks, as Peter Ranscombe discovers. MAKING gin is – relatively – easy. As long as your spirit tastes of juniper then it’s job done, as far as the labelling gods are concerned. But making your gin stand out from the ever-growing…
Read MoreViognier: why the future looks peachy
Viognier has made a comeback from the edge of extinction and now has its own “international day”, as Peter Ranscombe reports. IN A world of oaky chardonnays and acidic sauvignon blancs, viognier ploughs its own furough. Famous for its combination of floral and peachy aromas and flavours, the grape is distinctive on its own or…
Read MoreHonest Grapes: Blending wine with theatre
Wine retailer Honest Grapes has teamed up with theatre company Revels in Hand to mix virtual performances with wine tastings, writes Peter Ranscombe. SO MANY aspects of our lives have gone online during the past year. The trips to the virtual pub; the frustrations of online grocery shopping; the video calls instead of “just popping…
Read More