WINE TO DINE – SEPTEMBER 2020 – SALADS

Scottish Field wine columnist Peter Ranscombe selects salad saviours for social distancing delivery. CONTRARY to popular belief – and despite fellow wine writer Mike Turner casting aspersions on social media – I am partial to the odd salad. True, those salads do perhaps tend to include an addition or two, such as cold meat or…

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How to enjoy professional cocktails at home

Peter Ranscombe puts Drinks-At-Home, a nationwide cocktail delivery service, through its paces. HATS off to wine merchants and bottle shops for helping us to enjoy our favourite vinous treats during lockdown, but there are still a few drinks that it’s hard to get right at home. Draft beer for one – no matter how good…

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Head down under on Lidl’s latest Wine Tour

Peter Ranscombe uses Lidl’s latest Wine Tour promotion to explore why there’s such an exciting variety among Australia’s regional wines. THERE are lots of all-encompassing terms used in the world of wine. “Bordeaux” covers everything from a weeknight claret to a £500 first growth, while “oaked” can mean anything from using the most-expensive hand-crafted barrels…

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Round the world in 10 bank holiday rosés

With a bank holiday weekend dawning and – whisper it – decent weather forecast for Friday, Peter Ranscombe takes a whistle-stop world tour of rosé wine. FOLLOWING on from our last look at pink wines back in May, it feels like the right time to put on some rosé-tinted specs ahead of the early August bank…

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Nine of the best from Aldi’s summer beer festival

Peter Ranscombe slips into his slippers and remembers Aldi’s first beer festival, a decade ago, as he samples this summer’s offerings. I’M ABOUT to sound really old. German discount supermarket chain Aldi has just launched it’s 21st biannual Scottish beer festival – and it doesn’t seem like five minutes since the first one. A decade…

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WINE TO DINE – AUGUST 2020 – BARBECUE

Scottish Field wine columnist Peter Ranscombe fires off five brilliant bottles for barbecues. I DON’T mind admitting that my mouth was watering when I read John Barclay’s barbecue recipes. Although I’m a bit of a woose when it comes to outdoor cooking – I’ve been known to grill sausages and burgers indoors before finishing them off…

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Winemaker’s love of Scotland shines during online tasting

Peter Ranscombe enjoys three great-value South African wines while hearing what their maker would serve alongside them. THE Co-op in Melrose is perhaps the last place you’d expect to find a South African winemaker – but Alastair Rimmer has an affinity for the Borders. The cellar master at Kleine Zalze winery enjoys fishing on the…

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Indulging in restaurant fizz at home

As indoor restaurants and other hospitality businesses get ready to reopen from 15 July, Peter Ranscombe ponders some food and wine pairing for a lockdown treat at home. SOMETIMES a particular grape variety or a style of wine will strike a chord with sommeliers. Riesling is a classic example; beloved by the trade, but never…

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Seven of the best from Edinburgh Beer Box

Brewers in the Scottish capital have been thinking ‘inside the box’ during lockdown, with a curated beer selection that demonstrates their talent, writes Peter Ranscombe. FROM historic names like Caledonian, McEwan’s and Younger’s through to the modern wave of micro-breweries, the words “Edinburgh” and “beer” go together like a cheeky wee “hauf an’ hauf”. Although…

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Welcome to the ‘lollipop vineyard’

While South Africa may have a strong reputation for its old vines, that isn’t stopping farmers from planning for the future, as Peter Ranscombe discovers. WHEN you see the phrase “old vines” on a label, it can mean dramatically different things in different places. On a remote hillside in Australia or Spain or the Languedoc…

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