James Wine & Spirits
Albarino: Can Spain’s flagship white wine age?
Can Albarino white wines age – Peter Ranscombe joins an online tasting to find out. ONE of the most attractive elements of albarino is its freshness. Spain’s flagship white wine is the perfect example of “what grows together, goes together”. It’s high acidity and bright citrus flavours are the ideal foil for the seafood harvested…
Read MoreAldi beer festival: which brew are you?
The Aldi beer festival includes a quiz to help drinkers find their perfect tipple – so Peter Ranscombe took the test. ONE of the drawbacks of pandemic-induced table service is the inability to stand at a bar and peruse the pints. Pre-lockdown, few joys matched visiting a pub and squinting at the hand pumps to…
Read MoreWine to Dine – September 2021 – Street Food
Street food produces some exciting drinks pairings from Scottish Field wine columnist Peter Ranscombe. INNOVATION is at the heart of the dishes produced by Scotland’s street-food vendors. They take familiar ingredients and weave their magic – often in a portacabin or a trailer – to produce dishes that make you go “wow”. Winemakers – and…
Read MoreRosé for the bank holiday
Rosé wine will brighten up your bank holiday, even if the weather doesn’t play ball, writes Peter Ranscombe. AFTER this week’s thunder storms brought an end to July’s glorious heatwave, who knows what the weather will do over the bank holiday weekend? Come rain or shine, rosé will still be the order of the day…
Read MoreLidl goes back to the future with French wine tour
Tomorrow’s Lidl wine tour promotion features French classics you may have forgotten, writes Peter Ranscombe. DON’T you just hate it when a tune gets stuck in your heid? I’ve been humming the theme to Back to the Future since getting a sneak peak at some of the wines in Lidl’s latest wine tour promotion, which…
Read MoreFranciacorta: Enjoying fizz throughout the meal
Franciacorta makes sparkling wines that can be served with a range of foods, as Peter Ranscombe reports. BEFORE I visited Franciacorta back in 2017, I always wondered whether sparkling wines from the region would be a one-trick pony. After all, the area sits at the foot of Lake Iseo and so I assumed the only…
Read MoreJean Leon: Drinking wine like Hollywood royalty
The legend of restaurateur and winery owner Jean Leon lives on under the watchful eye of the Torres family, writes Peter Ranscombe. SOMETIMES the very thing for which you’re looking is sitting right under your nose. Jean Leon emigrated from Spain to America with dreams of starring in Hollywood films. Yet he returned to his…
Read MoreTigerlily keeps Belvedere’s organic infusions fresh
Cocktails designed by Tigerlily are being served on its new Belvedere Organic Infusions terrace in Edinburgh, as Peter Ranscombe finds out. WILL Edinburgh’s George Street finally be pedestrianised? After years of talk, it looks like the New Town thoroughfare may finally be turned into a European-style boulevard if the city council’s proposals go ahead. Sitting…
Read MoreLidl’s Hortus gin spreads its international wings
The Hortus gins being released tomorrow by Lidl add some exotic overseas touches to the range, as Peter Ranscombe finds out. LIDL’S Hortus gin brand has won many fans over the years – including those who tried it at the German supermarket chain’s pop-up gin club in Edinburgh. Now, its latest releases – which hit…
Read MoreTenuta Sette Cieli: Winemaking without a recipe
Tenuta Sette Cieli winemaker Elena Pozzolini doesn’t follow a recipe in the vineyard or the cellar, writes Peter Ranscombe. WHAT separates a chef from a cook? An inexperienced cook like myself has to follow a recipe line by line to make sure that the same risotto or carbonara or Bolognese appears every time. A chef,…
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