Grape&Grain
WINE TO DINE – MAY 2019 – RHUBARB
Scottish Field wine columnist Peter Ranscombe raids the cellar for five wines to go with rhubarb. FOR me, rhubarb will always conjure up memories of home in Nairnshire. Generations of our family’s cats were buried in the corner of the garden where the rhubarb grew best – although I still don’t want to dwell for…
Read MoreBack to school with James Bond’s Champagne
Peter Ranscombe sharpens his pencils and shines his shoes as he’s sent back to Champagne school with the brand favoured by the world’s most famous spy. WHICH drink do you associate with James Bond? Is it his signature cocktail – a vodka martini, shaken, not stirred? Or has Heineken’s product placement in the film franchise…
Read MoreGetting ‘Creative’ with wine pairings at Fazenda
Scottish Field wine columnist Peter Ranscombe meets up with Creation Wines co-founder Carolyn Martin at the Brazilian steak restaurant Fazenda. RED wine only goes with meat, doesn’t it? And white should only be served with fish, right? It’s time to rethink those old clichés when it comes to food and wine matching. While some guidance…
Read MoreIs this the ultimate gin for whisky lovers?
The team behind the world’s smallest bottle of Scotch has released its first gin, as Peter Ranscombe reports. WHISKY may be Scotland’s national drink, but our country now also has a growing reputation for its gin. With more than 70 distilleries churning out “mother’s ruin” north of the border, gin makers must work hard to…
Read MoreBanfi: Brunello and beyond
There’s more to Banfi’s range of wines than simply its flagship Brunello, writes Peter Ranscombe. BANFI is one of the biggest names in Italian wine. Back in 1978, the Mariani family founded the Castello Banfi winery in Tuscany and began putting the wines of Brunello di Montalcino on the global map. The company has since…
Read MoreWINE TO DINE – APRIL 2019 – SEAFOOD
Scottish Field wine columnist Peter Ranscombe trawls the coast for five wines to go with seafood. SCOTLAND is blessed with world-class seafood – our langoustine graces the plates of top-end restaurants in Spain, our mussels and oysters are the stuff of legend, and our salmon was the first fish and foreign product to attain the…
Read MoreCan a single bottle of wine match a whole meal?
Indulging in different wines to match different dishes is great fun, but Peter Ranscombe asks if a good all-rounder can do the same job? I’LL hold my hand up and confess I’m the first one to go over-the-top when it comes to wine – different bottles to pair with different courses during blow-out dinners or…
Read MoreThese Champagnes will enliven myriad cuisines
The distinctive freshness captured in Champagne Gosset’s wines provide pairings for a whole host of dishes, as Peter Ranscombe reports. CHAMPAGNE is a fascinating subject – even after you’ve stripped away all the branding and the marketing and the other ephemera that surrounds France’s flagship fizzy wine, there are still almost as many ways to…
Read MoreZonin indulges in some California dreamin’
Peter Ranscombe explores Zonin’s plans for expansion in California, Russia and Italy with prosecco prince Michele Zonin. PROSECCO producer Zonin may have deep roots in Italy stretching back nearly 200 years, but Michele Zonin had a distinctly international focus when I caught up with the company’s vice-president on Friday. Part of the seventh generation of…
Read MoreIt’s time for a Sea Change in wine’s environmental impact
Peter Ranscombe grabs his litter picker and pulls on his wellies to find out about the Scottish wine merchant that’s leading the charge with wines that cause less damage to the planet. I’VE taken part in wine tastings in some odd locations for Scottish Field over the years, from a tent in a muddy field…
Read More