Grape&Grain
Down on the farm: Virgin Wines backs wellbeing charity
As Mental Health Awareness Week draws to a close, Peter Ranscombe toasts Virgin Wines’ ongoing partnership with care charity Growing Well by tasting some of the online retailer’s organic offerings. THIS year’s Mental Health Awareness Week took on extra significance during lockdown. Thousands of people will have become even more acutely aware of the state…
Read MoreLifting the vale: Searching for grenache outside McLaren Vale
Peter Ranscombe indulges his passion for grenache by looking beyond exciting examples in Australia, France, South Africa and Spain. GRENACHE has helped to put Australia’s McLaren Vale on the map – a grape often seen only in blends in Rioja and the Rhone has become the star of the show and elevated to cult status.…
Read MoreTravelling La Route des Grands Crus with Chateau de Pommard
Online wine tastings are elevated to a whole new level with grand cru wines from Burgundy, says Peter Ranscombe. IT’S hard to think of an activity that hasn’t headed online during lockdown. From family quizzes and cocktails with friends through to work meetings and court hearings, there seems to be no part of everyday life…
Read MoreSpanish experiments with sauvignon blanc
Creativity is at the heart of good winemaking – and self-confessed science geek Peter Ranscombe never turns down the chance to lift the lid and look at how blends are made. THERE must be something in the water at Ramón Bilbao. Last year, we explored how winemaker Paula Fandino at the Spanish drinks giant’s Mar…
Read MoreLouis Latour looks beyond Burgundy for promising pinot
With the price of making wine in Burgundy continuing to rise, Peter Ranscombe finds out why one producer is turning to other regions. FEW names are as synonymous with Burgundy as Louis Latour – the wine producer traces its roots in the prestigious French region back to 1768, when Jean Latour planted vines at Aloxe, continuing…
Read MoreThese bottles will sing alongside Radio 1’s Big Weekend
This summer’s virtual music festivals mean you won’t have to make do with warm rosé from the bar or that dodgy carton of sangria you smuggled inside your rucksack, writes Peter Ranscombe. IT WAS the music festival that never was – Dundee’s Camperdown Park was due to host BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend this Friday…
Read MoreVisit vineyards without leaving lockdown
Getting itchy to take part in some wine tourism? Peter Ranscombe picks online wine excursions to give you a vinous kick while you #stayathome. ROAMING the globe to meet winemakers and visit their vineyards is a privilege and a blessing that I never take for granted – and no more so than during the current…
Read MoreFour covid cocktail recipes so easy even Peter can make them
Scottish Field drinks blogger Peter Ranscombe turns his hand to cocktail making – and you can too next Wednesday on Clos19’s Instagram Live. Dinner jacket optional. THERE’S something almost perverse about asking a teuchter to mix a whisky cocktail. Ask any warm-blooded Highlander how they take their whisky and we’re likely to reply, “Neat… with…
Read MoreCovid convenience: wines to pick at your corner shop
We’ve got Spar… and Co-op and Scotmid and… if you’re getting your lockdown supplies from a convenience store then Peter Ranscombe has some wine recommendations. ONE of the enduring images of the coronavirus lockdown will be shoppers queuing patiently outside supermarkets, with a line of mask-clad consumers snaking around the car park. Yet, for many…
Read MoreFour covid cocktail recipes so easy even Peter can make them
Scottish Field drinks blogger Peter Ranscombe turns his hand to cocktail making – and you can too next Wednesday on Clos19’s Instagram Live. Dinner jacket optional. THERE’S something almost perverse about asking a teuchter to mix a whisky cocktail. Ask any warm-blooded Highlander how they take their whisky and we’re likely to reply, “Neat… with…
Read More