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This is not just wine… this is a first look at M&S’s £5 range
Peter Ranscombe relives his youth as he dips into Marks & Spencer’s latest releases. DERVLA Kirwan has a lot to answer for. Whether it was putting the “kiss” into Balykissangel on BBC One or making the Noughties truly naughty with her sultry voiceovers for Marks & Spencer, the Irish actress’s dulcet tones enticed a generation.…
Read MoreMake mine a half: small bottles to avoid lockdown largess
Looking to lower your isolation libations? Peter Ranscombe picks half bottles to help. GOOD things come in small packages – or so the old adage goes. During the pandemic, those words of wisdom could well come into their own. Whether it’s to cope with home schooling or to relieve the boredom of furlough, it’s all…
Read MoreThe Eyre affair: Why there’s nothing plain about Jane’s wine
Peter Ranscombe joins specialist retailer Honest Grapes to see if a former Australian hairdresser’s French wines can ‘cut it’. EVERYONE has a story about an Australian traveller – whether it’s the backpacker who kipped on your couch for a month or that lost night drinking with the Bruces and the Sheilas who congregated at Walkabout…
Read MoreAn odyssey through Italy’s indigenous grapes – via Zoom
Falanghina, montepulciano and passerina all featured in the latest online tastings attended by drinks blogger Peter Ranscombe. FEW countries can boast as many varieties of grapes as Italy – the International Organisation of Vine & Wine (OIV), the keeper of the geekiest of all statistics, lists 454 varietals as being grown from the Alps down to…
Read MoreSix of the best from the new Wine Line Glasgow website
Making the Covid-19 switch from wholesale into retail gives consumers access to Alexander Wines’ exciting selection, says Peter Ranscombe. AS A business journalist as well as a wine writer, one of the most encouraging sights during the coronavirus lockdown has come from the drinks companies that have adapted to the changing landscape. Diana Thompson at…
Read MoreHow one wine firm helps hospitality heroes in the lockdown
Peter Ranscombe reviews six bottles from Berkmann, a wine wholesaler that’s donating cash to help the hospitality trade. THEY’RE the unsung heroes who make our nights out really special – the waitresses, the waiters, the barmen, the barwomen, and all the other members of the hospitality trade. They were also some of the first casualties…
Read MoreHow does an online wine tasting work?
Peter Ranscombe joins Diana Thompson for her first Wine Events Scotland online tasting to learn how the format works – and tastes some great-value Chilean bottles along the way. I WISH I’d bought shares in Zoom. The video-conferencing app has become almost as ubiquitous during the covid19 lockdown as Jason Leitch, the Scottish Government’s national…
Read MoreSix book shortlist for the Walter Scott Prize
The judges of the £25,000 Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction announced its eleventh shortlist today. The six-book shortlist is: The Narrow Land by Christine Dwyer Hickey (Atlantic); The Parisian by Isabella Hammad (Jonathan Cape); To Calais, In Ordinary Time by James Meek (Canongate); Shadowplay by Joseph O’Connor (Harvill Secker); The Redeemed by Tim Pears…
Read MoreSelf isolating? One-hour wine delivery tested
Peter Ranscombe puts Drinkly’s one-hour ordering service through its paces by picking six of his favourite wines from Edinburgh’s Vino chain. WHAT a week it’s been – from BoJo standing up on Monday to tell us not to go to pubs, restaurants or theatres through to the school gates closing this evening with little hope…
Read MoreWINE TO DINE – APRIL 2020 – CHOCOLATE
He may not have a whiskered nose or a powder-puff tail, but Peter Ranscombe has sweet and savoury wines to pair with chocolate dishes for Easter. LET me start with a confession – I love chocolate. Whether it’s dark, milk or white, I just can’t get enough of the stuff. Unless you’re going to slip…
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