Seven of the best from Brunello’s 2014 vintage

Wet weather and cool temperatures didn’t stop some Brunello wineries from producing excellent bottles, writes Peter Ranscombe. THINK Tuscany, think sunshine: whether it’s Tony Blair wandering around in shorts and a t-shirt on his summer holidays or field after field of fragrant purple lavender swaying in the breeze, it’s hard to picture Italy’s most-famous wine…

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They’re celebrating with a Scottish Field bronze

The Ardgowan Distillery’s very first whisky has taken the bronze award in the over £100 category in this year’s Scottish Field Whisky Challenge. Ardgowan Expedition, an exclusive 20-year-old premium blended malt specially created by Ardgowan Chairman Willie Phillips, was ranked against its peers in a completely blind tasting by a panel of 11 expert judges,…

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Three Sisters Bake up cakes in the city

Scotland’s famous baking sisterhood, Three Sisters Bake, has arrived on Great Western Road in Glasgow with its latest venture – Cake Bar. The new take-away and sweet treat destination is set to be the most instagrammable café in Glasgow, complete with neon signs and flower installations and of course, cake. Cake Bar will offer ice-cream…

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Tourist award for the ice cream of the crop

A family-run business has become Ayrshire’s first ever Five Star Tourist Shop following a grading from VisitScotland. Geraldo’s, based in the seaside town of Largs, received five stars from the national tourism organisation’s Quality Assurance (QA) Scheme in recognition of its exceptional standards. The QA Scheme is a benchmark for quality across the tourism industry…

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These wine and doughnut matches have a certain ring to them

Food and wine pairing is a well-trodden route, but how about doughnut and wine matching? Peter Ranscombe investigates, with help from wine importer Inverarity Morton and Tantrum Doughnuts of Glasgow. CAN I murmur “Mmmm, doughnuts…” without channelling Homer Simpson? Probably not, but that’s not going to stop me extoling the virtues of one of my…

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Turning Japanese at Umi in Edinburgh

Hidden away beneath one of Edinburgh’s longest established Chinese restaurants, I was hoping to find buried treasure at Umi on Deanhaugh Street in Stockbridge, Edinburgh. This newbie is the sister project of Kenji Sushi and Bentoya and it seems that word has spread quickly about the quality of the authentic Japanese food on the menu…

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Wine cask whisky collection to take off at Heathrow

Whisky lovers flying through Heathrow this Easter are in for a rare treat with the launch of the new Aultmore Wine Cask Collection next week. Starting on 18 April, a limited-run edition only available from World Duty Free Stores at Heathrow. Georgie Bell, the Aultmore Global Brand Ambassador will be in World Duty Free stores…

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Forget the Easter Egg – try a special pancake

The UK’s largest pancake and licensed bar venue is offering an Easter treat. Stack & Still opened its doors in Glasgow in in October last year with phenomenal success, serving over 35,000 customers in the first six weeks of trading. Since then the venue has gone from strength to strength with customers frequently queuing outside…

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Glengoyne batch 007 is for your lips only

The latest release in the Glengoyne Cask Strength series, Cask Strength Batch No. 007, has been revealed. It is the first in the collection to feature a small proportion of bourbon barrels in the cask recipe. Bottled un-chillfiltered at 58.9% ABV, Glengoyne Cask Strength Batch No. 007 has been crafted using a combination of first-fill…

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Tasty cookies with a very healthy addition

It seems that when it comes to food in the 21st century, anything goes. It’s seen the rise of sweet and savoury combined in our confectioneries, with a variety of tastes we’d never have tried even a decade ago, coming to the fore. This week, we’re bringing you some recipes with a different, courtesy of…

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