Macallan 1878 bottle is exposed as a fake by Whisky 101

One of the world’s only known bottles of Macallan 1878 still in circulation has been officially exposed as a fake. Following an investigation by Rare Whisky 101, working in partnership with Sandro Bernasconi, bar manager at the Waldhaus Hotel, the bottle has been confirmed as a forgery. The Waldhaus Hotel Am See in St Moritz…

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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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Edinburgh gets set for a sparkling event

Edinburgh is getting set to welcome its most sparkling event of the year. Following last year’s sell out success, Fizz Feast – A Celebration of Sparkling Wine & Scottish Artisan Food – is taking place on Saturday, November 18, at the Edinburgh Academy on Henderson Row.  Fizz Feast is the only consumer wine fair in…

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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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Give the best gift that money can buy – a Scottish Field subscription

Visitors to a Christmas fair in Dumfries can do their Christmas shopping and give the best gift money can buy – a subscription to Scottish Field. Scottish Field’s Leona Clark will be at the Dumfries Christmas Fair, which is being held on November 13, from 4-7.30pm, and Tuesday, November 14, from 10am-3.30pm. Taking place in…

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Time travelling with Bolney’s Blanc de Blanc bubbles

Peter Ranscombe straps himself into a vinous DeLorean to sample five vintages of Bolney’s Blanc de Blanc English sparkling wine. ONE of the most exciting elements of opening an older bottle of wine is remembering at what stage of your life you were in the year that the grapes were harvested. Where were you living?…

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Bonnie Prince Charlie exhibition is a star attraction

Bonnie Prince Charlie and the Jacobites is a new exhibition at Edinburgh’s National Museum of Scotland. It shows how he attempted to achieve his dream of becoming the King of Scotland. Charles Edward Stuart reached Scottish soil for the first time in his life in 1745 at Eriskay. The Bonnie Prince was born in exile…

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From riesling to the Smiths: Wine, food and music matching

Food isn’t the only match for wine – you can also pair it with music too, as Peter Ranscombe finds out. WHAT happens when you mix wines from Alsace, food from a French bistro and Brit Pop from the 1980s? The answer is you get Foulques Aulagnon, the export manager at CIVA, the trade body…

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Oddbins goes au natural

Peter Ranscombe salutes Oddbins’ new range of natural wines. LOVE them or hate them, natural wines are here to stay. There’s a lot of confusion over what constitutes a “natural” wine – and how organic, biodynamic and natural wines sit together. Probably the most useful definition focuses on “low intervention” wines, in which the grape…

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