Why I still can’t quite put my finger on ‘minerality’…

Peter Ranscombe goes into full ‘wine geek’ mode with an exploration of what ‘minerality’ might mean when it comes to wine. FLICK through the tasting notes for bottles of wine and it’s not long before you start to spot patterns emerging. Pinot noir tends to taste of red fruits like strawberry, raspberry and red cherry,…

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WINE TO DINE – FEBRUARY 2020 – TATTIES

Scottish Field wine columnist and drinks blogger Peter Ranscombe digs up five wines to pair with potatoes. WHETHER you call them tatties, spuds or potatoes, there’s no arguing with the versatility of what could be dubbed Scotland’s national vegetable. After a break for the Christmas food feature in December’s issue and last month’s festive fizz…

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Winds of change blow at Journey’s End

Rollo Gabb tells Peter Ranscombe why it’s not just the Cape Doctor breeze that’s blowing changes through his South African vineyards. THE world of wine is also the world of wind: from the Mistral and the Levant that blow through Provence to the Sirocco of Sicily and the breezes that flow through the Petaluma Gap…

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First exhibitions of 2020 revealed by Open Eye

The Open Eye Gallery in Edinburgh has revealed the first of its exhibitions for 2020. The gallery, based in the New Town, has been running for 30 years and holds 32 exhibitions per year focusing on contemporary and applied art. The first exhibitions for the year are: Jonathan Gibbs, Paintings, Drawings and Wood Engravings, 10…

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Auction update: Cape Fine & Rare and Cask Trade

Peter Ranscombe provides an update on the Cape Fine & Rare wine auction and the new date for the Cask Trade whisky sale. REGULAR readers of The Grape & The Grain drinks blog will remember that two auctions caught my eye over the autumn – and so it’s time for an update on the results…

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Scotch liqueur crowned king of the castle

Scotland’s leading Scotch malt whisky cream liqueur, Magnum, has been crowned one of the top selling products at Edinburgh Castle after smashing its annual sales target. Over 1000 cases (12,000 bottles) of Magnum have been snapped up by visitors to the historic landmark between January and November 2019 alone. Magnum’s superior ingredients and contemporary design…

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Shetland Distillery applying the finishing touches

Shetland Reel launch their latest Blended Malt Scotch Whisky as their quest for whisky success steps up a gear. Shetland Distillery, perhaps best known for its award-winning gins is proud to launch its latest offering a Finished in Shetland Blended Malt Scotch Whisky. The UK’s most northerly distillery has been distilling a range of gin…

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A property that’s tailor made as a family home

A late Victorian double-fronted five bedroom detached granite property is now on the property market. Presented by Savills, Glencairn was built during 1901 at the behest of James Moir, tailor to the Earls of Aberdeen at Haddo, who made his fortune in the Glencairn gold mines in South Africa, from where the house derives its…

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Alasdair’s life provides him with a heady Brew

Big game hunter, Nile perch champ and sporting agent – there’s no doubt this Kintyre ghillie knows how to have fun. In this job I’m lucky enough to meet some remarkable characters. Few, however, are more memorable than Alastair Brew. Ostensibly this larger than life madman is a Kintyre-based ghillie, gamekeeper, estate owner and sporting…

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The dog whisperer who saves canine lives

Abbie Withers has worked with dogs for 35 years, in film and TV, and now as a behavioural consultant, saving dogs which might otherwise be put to sleep How did you first get started working with dogs? I worked as a vet nurse in the UK and in South Africa and met another nurse who…

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