Doctor accepting blame needs a brandy (6)
I believe the answer is:
grappa
'brandy' is the definition.
(grappa is a kind of brandy)
'doctor accepting blame needs a' is the wordplay.
'doctor' becomes 'gp' (general practitioner).
'accepting' indicates putting letters inside.
'blame' becomes 'rap' (synonyms).
'needs' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'gp' enclosing 'rap' is 'grapp'.
'grapp'+'a'='GRAPPA'
(Other definitions for grappa that I've seen before include "Spirit distilled from grapes" , "Italian firewater" , "Brandy from fermented pressed grape residue" , "Italian drink" , "Italian brandy distilled from grape lees" .)