Peter Ranscombe meets Scottish winemaker Jamie McCulloch, whose handcrafted wines from Switzerland are finding fans on Edinburgh’s food scene. IT’S always fascinating to meet Scottish winemakers. It’s possible to count the number of vineyards in our nation on one hand and so it’s interesting to explore the reasons why fellow Scots turn to making wine.… Continue Reading
Category Archives: Grape&Grain
Alsace: Land of soils
Peter Ranscombe digs into the soils of Alsace, a wine producing region where the interplay between grapes and the land creates a fascinating variety of wines. SCURRYING up the slope behind Eric Kientzler, it’s easy to see why “steep” is a word that crops up so frequently in guidebooks about Alsace. As the winemaker at… Continue Reading
Natural Selection prepares to launch 2017 beer
Peter Ranscombe finds out more about Natural Selection, a partnership between Stewart Brewing in Loanhead and Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh to train the next wave of brewers. SCOTLAND’S craft brewing scene is thriving – there are more than 115 breweries dotted throughout the country, the highest number for more than a century. Gordon Brown’s introduction… Continue Reading
Searching for regionality in English sparkling wine
To mark the start of English wine week tomorrow, Peter Ranscombe ponders whether it’s possible to spot regional identity in the country’s sparkling wines ASK a connoisseur of Champagne about their favourite bottles and more likely than not they’ll start waxing lyrical about the different areas that make up the famous French sparkling wine region.… Continue Reading
Keeping California affordable
Wines from California can be expensive by the time they reach the UK, but there are still plenty of bargains to be found, as Peter Ranscombe discovers THERE’S no arguing with the quality of the wine being produced in California – some of the pinot noir, cabernet sauvignon and chardonnay I tried during a recent visit was… Continue Reading
