Wine
Five of the best from Domaine des Tourelles
Peter Ranscombe picks his favourite bottles from a Lebanese winery that traces its roots back to 1868. HAVING grown up in the 1980s, it’s hard not to think of Lebanon without remembering the country’s long-running civil war. From the kidnapping of Brian Keenan, John McCarthy and Terry Waite through to “Beirut” becoming a byword for…
Read MoreWINE TO DINE – MARCH 2019 – PHEASANT
Drinks writer Peter Ranscombe selects five wines to go with pheasant, this month’s star ingredient. WITH its bright red wattle and distinctive cockerel-like call, the pheasant is a familiar sight throughout Scotland, waddling across farmers’ fields, woodland edges and roadside verges. Believed to have been introduced to Britain by the Romans – and certainly common…
Read MoreFermenting ideas for #FurmintFebruary19
Peter Ranscombe explores the wide variety of styles that can be made from Hungary’s flagship furmint grape. MENTION Hungary and wine fans are likely to think of one of two things – depending on their age. Younger winos are most likely to associate the Central European country with sweet wines from the Tokaj region, while…
Read MoreProsecco & pals: which bubbles popped Scottish Field’s cork?
In between curling his hair and rouging his cheeks, Peter Ranscombe leads his Scottish Field colleagues in a pre-night out prosecco tasting. FEW sparkling wines have captured the imagination of the public like prosecco. Whether it’s drinks in a wine bar after work or getting ready at a friend’s house for a big night out,…
Read MoreWINE TO DINE – FEBRUARY 2019 – SPINACH
Drinks writer Peter Ranscombe selects five wines to go with spinach dishes. AFTER a hard day of battling Bluto and tooting on his pipe, which wine would Popeye select to woo Olive Oyl and pair with his beloved spinach? With its earthy, iron-rich flavour, spinach can be highly versatile in dishes, which opens up a…
Read MoreStars in glasses and on plates at 21212
As a fan of 21212’s food, Peter Ranscombe couldn’t turn down an invitation to try the Michelin-starred restaurant with rooms’ wine pairings. CHEF Paul Kitching cracked the code for good food a long time ago – the proprietor at 21212, the restaurant with rooms on Edinburgh’s Royal Terrace, has held his Michelin star since 2010,…
Read MoreThis Italian red was served at Michelle Obama’s dinner
Peter Ranscombe samples wines from Cantina Goccia in Umbria, which have just landed in Scotland. FEW Italian regions strike such a chord with tourists as Tuscany; from Tony Blair and Terry Wogan to Stevie Wonder and Sting, celebrities have flocked to see its Renaissance art and to walk among its lavender fields and olive groves.…
Read MoreWhy champagne and fish go swimmingly together
Don’t dismiss sparklers when it comes to food and wine pairings, writes Peter Ranscombe. WHEN is a wine not a wine? When it’s a champagne, of course. While champagne and other bubbles are the bottles of choice for aperitifs to start a meal, seldom do you see fizz being served throughout a dinner. But why…
Read MoreOn patrol at Bon Vivant Companion’s fizz tasting
Edinburgh wine merchant The Bon Vivant’s Companion has plenty of ideas for sparkling wines to grace the Christmas dinner table, as Peter Ranscombe finds out. I PROMISE that I don’t have a favourite wine shop – but if I were to draw up a top ten then The Bon Vivant’s Companion tucked away on Thistle…
Read MoreWINE TO DINE – JANUARY 2019 – LOWER-ALCOHOL WINES
Drinks writer Peter Ranscombe selects five lower-alcohol wines. FEW months appear as bleak as January – the heady excesses of Christmas and Hogmanay are fading into the background and it feels like a long way to go before we can indulge in the whisky-fueled revelry of Burns’ Night. Fear not though; even if the belt…
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