James Wine & Spirits
Restaurants get 100,000 free glasses of wine to tempt customers back
As the UK Government’s “Eat Out to Help Out” scheme ends, wine importer Hallgarten is giving restaurants and bars a helping hand – and Peter Ranscombe picks some exciting bottles from its warehouse. MANY restaurant owners have hailed the “Eat Out to Help Out” scheme as a massive success, bringing customers out for early week…
Read MoreWhat makes Aldi’s new Scottish gin so special?
As the Old Curiosity Distillery prepares to restart its tours, Peter Ranscombe hears the story behind the gin it’s created for Aldi. GOOD things come to those who wait – or so the old saying goes. For Hamish Martin, that adage was certainly true. He took over a derelict site just south of Edinburgh in…
Read MoreYou’re history: the stories behind famous wines
Peter Ranscombe travels back in time to explore some of the history of grape growing and winemaking. PART of the attraction of wine is its blend of components – it’s part geography, part sociology and part history. Diana Thompson’s latest Wine Events Scotland online tastings have focused on the third leg of that triumvirate. Thompson…
Read MoreTrying Lebanon wine ahead of Friday’s charity auction
Peter Ranscombe reviews wines from Domaine des Tourelles ahead of a fundraising auction this weekend for rebuilding Lebanon. WINE connects people – whether it’s through work or through pleasure, it has an almost magical way of linking lives. When times are tough, people in the wine industry pull together, like when wildfires devastated parts of…
Read MoreHow Banfi’s vineyards are adapting to climate change
A pre-lockdown visit to Tuscany revealed how a mind-boggling attention to detail in the vineyard could help one of Italy’s best-known wine producers to cope with global warming, writes Peter Ranscombe. FOR Gianni Savelli, climate change isn’t a hypothetical subject that’s confined to the evening news bulletin or a discussion about the far-flung future that’s…
Read MoreWINE TO DINE – SEPTEMBER 2020 – SALADS
Scottish Field wine columnist Peter Ranscombe selects salad saviours for social distancing delivery. CONTRARY to popular belief – and despite fellow wine writer Mike Turner casting aspersions on social media – I am partial to the odd salad. True, those salads do perhaps tend to include an addition or two, such as cold meat or…
Read MoreHow to enjoy professional cocktails at home
Peter Ranscombe puts Drinks-At-Home, a nationwide cocktail delivery service, through its paces. HATS off to wine merchants and bottle shops for helping us to enjoy our favourite vinous treats during lockdown, but there are still a few drinks that it’s hard to get right at home. Draft beer for one – no matter how good…
Read MoreHead down under on Lidl’s latest Wine Tour
Peter Ranscombe uses Lidl’s latest Wine Tour promotion to explore why there’s such an exciting variety among Australia’s regional wines. THERE are lots of all-encompassing terms used in the world of wine. “Bordeaux” covers everything from a weeknight claret to a £500 first growth, while “oaked” can mean anything from using the most-expensive hand-crafted barrels…
Read MoreRound the world in 10 bank holiday rosés
With a bank holiday weekend dawning and – whisper it – decent weather forecast for Friday, Peter Ranscombe takes a whistle-stop world tour of rosé wine. FOLLOWING on from our last look at pink wines back in May, it feels like the right time to put on some rosé-tinted specs ahead of the early August bank…
Read MoreNine of the best from Aldi’s summer beer festival
Peter Ranscombe slips into his slippers and remembers Aldi’s first beer festival, a decade ago, as he samples this summer’s offerings. I’M ABOUT to sound really old. German discount supermarket chain Aldi has just launched it’s 21st biannual Scottish beer festival – and it doesn’t seem like five minutes since the first one. A decade…
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