Winter warmers from Sud de France

Looking for a fireside glass this December? Peter Ranscombe explores wines filled with the warmth of the South of France. FEW wine-growing regions ooze sunshine like the South of France; every glass of red feels like it’s bursting with the sun’s warming rays, while each glass of white brings back memories of the lapping waves…

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Release your inner wine geek

Examinations aren’t just for people working in the wine trade but can be of benefit to interested consumers too, writes Peter Ranscombe. LET me begin with a confession: I’m a wine geek. I swirl wine round the glass, I stick my nose in for a long sniff, I spend ages trying to decide if the…

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The Macallan toasts Kyloe’s new Scottish steaks

Edinburgh restaurant Kyloe has switched to stocking only Scottish steak and The Macallan whisky was on hand to toast the move, as Peter Ranscombe reports. NO OTHER drink screams “Scotland” like whisky – with its amber colour and rich flavours of fruit cake, honey, caramel and vanilla, our national drink is the perfect way to…

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Franciacorta: where passion blends with precision

Peter Ranscombe travels to Italy to learn why Franciacorta isn’t a Champagne copycat or a posh version of Prosecco.   WATCHING Alberto Volpini at work in the kitchen at the Mosnel winery in Northern Italy’s Franciacorta region, it’s clear that making pasta is all about precision. Mixing the right amount of each ingredient, passing the…

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Yealands defies expectations with New Zealand’s classic varieties

Peter Ranscombe explores the diversity of styles of sauvignon blanc and pinot noir from New Zealand with Yealands’ senior winemaker, Natalie Christensen. Everyone knows New Zealand sauvignon blanc, don’t they? It’s full of gooseberry flavours and paint-stripping acidity, right? If that’s the assumption then it’s time for a rethink. Although the classic Kiwi style certainly…

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Ageing gracefully in the Languedoc

Picking older wines to drink doesn’t have to be all about the classics, as Peter Ranscombe reports. WHEN we think of wines that will be laid down in cellars to age, names like Bordeaux and Burgundy or Napa and Gimblett naturally spring to mind. Yet the right ingredients for creating an age-worthy wine – ripe…

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There’s more to malbec than Mendoza

Peter Ranscombe explores the regionality of Argentina’s malbecs with Phil Crozier, director of wines at steak house chain Gaucho. MALBEC has been one of the wine world’s great success stories. Wind the clock back 20 years and few drinkers had heard of the all-conquering red grape. Now, it’s become ubiquitous on restaurant wine lists and…

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Foncalieu: Keeping it fresh in the Languedoc

Peter Ranscombe is enchanted by the freshness of the white wines being produced in one of France’s most famous regions for reds – the Languedoc. The Languedoc region in south-west France is famed for its red wines. Areas such as Corbières, Fitou and Minervois are renowned throughout the world for producing fruity and powerful reds…

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Notebook – November 2017

In the first in a new occasional series of articles, Peter Ranscombe flicks through the pages of his notebook to share some of his vinous highlights from the past month. GETTING to meet winemakers and to sample their wares at tastings is a real privilege, whether in Scotland or London or out in the vineyards.…

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Single vineyard garnacha from Rioja

Whether you call it garnacha, grenache or even garnatxa, Peter Ranscombe wants to praise the often-overlooked red grape variety. BLENDING is at the very heart of the winemaking tradition in Rioja. Whether it’s mixing the tempranillo, garnacha and other grape varieties used to make Spain’s most-famous red wine or fusing together wines from the Alta,…

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