Posts Tagged ‘wine’
Small is beautiful at Domaine Ferret
Just because a small producer is owned by a big company doesn’t mean it can’t create incredibly serious wines, as Peter Ranscombe discovers. WRITING about business as well as drinks has made me a bit sceptical when it comes to big-name wines. Time after time, I’ve seen bottles with eye-catching labels and creative monikers, only…
Read MoreEnjoying the character of Bolney’s pinot noir
Peter Ranscombe gets a rare chance to compare four vintages of English pinot noir from the Bolney Estate in Sussex. DRINKING the same bottle of supermarket wine week after week can sometimes make it easy to forget how much the taste of a wine can vary from year to year. Big producers will blend wine…
Read MoreCalifornia wine fair highlights
Ahead of a fundraising event on Sunday for the wildfire relief efforts, Peter Ranscombe looks back at some of his highlights from the recent California wine fair. IT’S always hard when you see images of smoke and flames engulfing people’s homes. The wildfires that have swept through Northern California over the past fortnight have claimed…
Read MoreSecond Chance Summer yields first-rate wines
After starring in a BBC Two documentary series, Rob Seddon has launched his own company, exporting Italian wines to the UK and Ireland, as Peter Ranscombe find outs. I’LL confess that I’m not a big fan of reality TV, but one show had me hooked this spring. BBC Two’s Second Chance Summer followed the adventures…
Read More1821: A new number for wine in Edinburgh
Peter Ranscombe joins one of Italy’s venerable wine families in Edinburgh for the launch of its inaugural ‘wine hotel’. EDINBURGH last night became home to The Wine House Hotel 1821, the first in a chain of hostelries being opened by the Zonin family. Zonin is best known for its prosecco, Italy’s most-famous sparkling wine, but…
Read MorePowell & Son: Two heads are better than one
Australian winemaker Dave Powell has teamed up with his eldest son, Callum, to create wines from Australia’s Barossa and Eden valleys with freshness and fruit purity, writes Peter Ranscombe. THE phrase “colourful character” could have been coined to describe Dave Powell, the tall Australian winemaker with his grey beard and ponytail holding court in Le…
Read MoreRoyal Celtic Society members set to receive new Coat of Arms
The annual general meeting of the Royal Celtic Society is taking place in Edinburgh this Friday. For nearly 200 years, the Royal Celtic Society has been at the cutting edge of activity to support the language, literature, music and culture of the Highlands and Western Islands of Scotland. The society holds regular events for members,…
Read MoreErrazuriz wants to put Chile on the map
There’s no need to be snobbish when it comes to big brands, as Errazuriz shows with its high-scoring Chilean wines, writes Peter Ranscombe. Branded wine is an interesting phenomenon: for some, it’s the reassurance they need to part with their cash, safe in the knowledge that this bottle will taste the same as the previous…
Read MoreCharles Heidsieck: Keeping something in reserve
Peter Ranscombe explores the use of higher proportions of reserve wines in Charles Heidsieck’s range of Champagnes. Walk along the aisle of any bottle shop or take a quick glance at a decent wine list and the choice of Champagne brands appears almost endless. It’s easy to dismiss France’s flagship sparkling wine as simply being…
Read MoreCelebrating the work of ‘Our Fathers’
What finer tribute could there be to your dad than creating a bottle of wine in his honour? Peter Ranscombe finds out what inspired Giles Cooke to produce Our Fathers. It’s not often that I’ll write about a single bottle of wine in isolation. Then again, there aren’t many bottles with the rich backstory that lies behind…
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