James Wine & Spirits
Beronia: where wine is made to go with food
Scottish Field wine columnist Peter Ranscombe visits Rioja’s Beronia winery to taste wines created for a local gastronomic society or ‘txoko’. SWAYING to the music on a makeshift lino-clad dance floor in a San Sabastian piano bar at 2am, it’s impossible not to be immersed in the camaraderie of the Basque country. One friend plays…
Read MoreSix of the best English still wines
There’s more to English wine than its award-winning sparklers, as Peter Ranscombe reports. IT’S hard to argue with the prowess of English sparkling wines, with the “Auld Enemy’s” bubbles scooping prizes at competitions ranging from the Sommelier Wine Awards through to consumer group Which?’s annual taste test. Along the way, the industry has chalked up…
Read MoreWhy pinot grigio needn’t be a party pooper
Peter Ranscombe threw his Scottish Field colleagues a pinot grigio party to demonstrate why not all examples fall into the watery white category. WE’VE all been there – you’re standing at a friend’s party or at an exhibition launch or at a work function and you’re handed a glass of pinot grigio. It’s watery, it’s…
Read MoreWINE 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…
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