Wine
Wine pairings spice up Tony Singh’s supper club
Peter Ranscombe joins celebrity chef Tony Singh at home for a glass or two during a recent supper club. FOR someone who has made his name in food, it’s clear that Tony Singh also knows his wines. During one of the recent supper clubs at his home in Edinburgh, it struck me that the chef…
Read MoreUnder the bridge: inside London’s newest winery
Peter Ranscombe visits Blackbook winery in Battersea to find out how English grapes are being turned into high-quality wines in the most urban of settings. DURING my travels for Scottish Field, I’ve tasted wines on the hillsides of California and France, Romania and Turkey, but never under a railway arch in Battersea – until now.…
Read MoreThe taming of the screw: celebrating Jackson Estate’s 30th anniversary
Cork or screwcap? Peter Ranscombe explores how the two closures allow New Zealand sauvignon blanc to age. CORK was once king of the wine bottle closures – plastic, composite and glass seals may have eaten into its dominance, but the noble cork was still the top dog. Then along came the screwcap; simple for consumers…
Read MoreToasting English wine at Hotel du Vin
As English Wine Week draws to a close, Peter Ranscombe visits Hotel du Vin in Edinburgh to sample some of the wines produced south of the Border. WHETHER it’s the bubbles of Jenkyn Place and Exton Park or the still offerings from Gusbourne and Simpsons, there’s no question over the rising quality of English wine.…
Read MoreWine to Dine – July 2018 – Berries
Drinks writer Peter Ranscombe picks five wines to go with berries. The star ingredient in the food feature inside the July 2018 issue of Scottish Field magazine was the great Scottish berry. Here, we need a range of wines with varying sweetness and dryness to match the different dishes that can be created from soft…
Read MoreNotebook – May 2018
Wine columnist Peter Ranscombe continues his occasional series of articles that delve into his notebook to report on some of the exciting wines he’s tried over the past month. OFTEN there are wines that don’t pair with the dishes that chefs have selected for the Wine to Dine column in the main Scottish Field printed…
Read MoreHat’s off to Larry
Peter Ranscombe meets the man hailed as the godfather of New Zealand pinot noir, Larry McKenna. IT’S all change at Escarpment Wines in New Zealand – the company has been sold to Australian peer Torbreck, winemaker Huw Kinch is leaving to go and work at the Pyramid Valley winery and a district marketing body has…
Read MoreThere are wines from California to suit all budgets
As the Golden State trade tasting rolls into Edinburgh, Peter Ranscombe takes a sneak peak at some of California’s premium wines. CALIFORNIA has a reputation for making expensive wines – but scratch beneath the surface and you can find a range of bottles to suit most budgets. As I’ve pointed out before, wines from California…
Read MoreFinding delights among Kayra’s Turkish wines
Peter Ranscombe travels to Turkey to explore modern examples from an ancient wine-producing country. WALKING the streets of Istanbul, the shadow that Atatürk still casts over Turkey is inescapable. Portraits of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk – who led the struggle for independence and became the “father of the republic” – hang from the walls of hotels,…
Read MoreNew Zealand leads with lower-alcohol wines
Peter Ranscombe meets John Forrest, a pioneer of lower-alcohol wines, to taste his new bottles for Marks & Spencer. IT MIGHT be 30 years since John Forrest left his career as a medical researcher to become a winemaker, but his enthusiasm for science clearly hasn’t faded. Standing in front of a whiteboard inside New Zealand…
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