James Wine & Spirits
Why the weather determines the taste of Sauternes
Sweet wine expert Ana Carvalho explores the effect of hot and cold years on the taste of Chateau Suduiraut with Peter Ranscombe. TUCKED away between the Ciron and Garonne rivers in Bordeaux, the Sauternes region produces arguably the most-famous sweet wines on the planet. When the cold waters of the Ciron meet the warmer Garonne…
Read MoreFizz Feast hits new heights
Missed this month’s Fizz Feast in Edinburgh? Peter Ranscombe selects six sensational sparklers from the festival. ONE of the most exciting aspects of Fizz Feast, the celebration of sparkling wine and artisan food, is the sheer variety of bubbles on show. Organiser Diana Thompson, who has been running the fair for the past four years,…
Read MoreAge-worthy South African wines go under the hammer
Peter Ranscombe gets a sneak peak at a collection of older South African wines going up for auction at Christie’s in London this week. ASK different drinkers about how they perceive wines from South Africa and you’ll get a host of different answers. Some will praise the weird and wacky low-intervention wines produced in the…
Read MorePutting up your dukes for Australian wine
Peter Ranscombe joins wine writer Matthew Jukes for lunch at Edinburgh’s Wedgwood restaurant to puruse his list of the 100 best Australian wines. I WOULDN’T mind cashing in Matthew Jukes’ air miles. The Daily Mail newspaper’s wine columnist has compiled his “100 Best Australian Wines” list for 16 years and not only takes the accompanying…
Read MoreWhy I’m offsetting the carbon from my wine trips
Scottish Field wine columnist and drinks blogger Peter Ranscombe explains why he’s using Trees for Life to offset the carbon dioxide emissions from his wine trips. SOARING above the clouds in an aeroplane is both a wonder and a privilege that I never want to take for granted. Travelling the world to visit winemakers and write…
Read MoreCask Trade gears up for its first whisky auction
Peter Ranscombe meets Simon Aron, who has created a platform to put barrels of Scotch under the hammer. BARELY a week goes passed when a whisky auction doesn’t hit the headlines, with investors bidding for record-breaking Scotch in London, New York and Hong Kong. Yet the vast majority of those spirits swap hands in bottles,…
Read MoreMatching Martin Wishart’s dishes to Lebanon’s wines
Old vines grown at high altitude produce wines with great food pairing potential, writes Peter Ranscombe. ASK most wine fans to think of Lebanon and their minds will race immediately to Chateau Musar, the country’s best-known winery. Yet, as we’ve seen before on The Grape & The Grain drinks blog, Musar isn’t the only game…
Read MoreCalmel & Joseph: Finding the perfect blend
Peter Ranscombe returns to the Languedoc region in the south of France to learn how one négociant is taking the art of blending to the next level. AFTER spreading the gingham cloth over the trestle table, winemaker Laurent Calmel quickly began setting up his array of bottles and measuring cylinders. As the warm autumn sun…
Read MoreWINE TO DINE – NOVEMBER 2019 – DUCK
Scottish Field wine columnist and drinks blogger Peter Ranscombe goes quackers for five bottles to match duck. DUCK was the star ingredient in the food feature in the November issue of the printed Scottish Field magazine – here are five wines that will fly with the recipes. Jean Cornelius Pinot Noir, 2018 Lidl £7.49 Part…
Read MoreWhy not all albarinos are born equal
There’s more to Spain’s flagship white wine than young and racy seafood-friendly bottles, as Peter Ranscombe discovers. IN MY head, I always picture the Rias Baixas region in Galicia like Scotland’s Spanish twin – a west coast formed from fjords or sea lochs and pelted by the Atlantic rain. Spain’s north-west frontier, poking out above…
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