Columns | Weekend & Leisure | Homepage - The Oxford Times

"It's all a bit mad . . . but I like it!"

2:12pm Tuesday 21st May 2013

“Curiouser and curiouser!” I think as I walk around what used to be the blacked out door to the Cricketers Arms on Iffley Road. I am looking for a way into the new gin joint that has taken its place.

• Have your say

Micro flights: a little bit of what you fancy

4:32pm Wednesday 15th May 2013

Have you ever been sitting at dinner, craving a juicy steak, when your partner orders the fish of the day? What wine do you get then?  Do you order wine by the glass accepting the limited choice? Or do you get a bottle knowing that it won’t quite match one of the meals?

• Have your say

Wine tips from a man of impeccable taste

10:04am Tuesday 7th May 2013

THE Theatre in Chipping Norton is renowned for its Christmas pantomimes, award-winning shows and famous patrons.

• Have your say

The secret gardens for sun worshippers

9:32am Tuesday 30th April 2013

Last weekend gave us a hint of summer.  Temperatures barely touched 20 degrees and Oxonians responded by leaving their houses and movie theatres to join the al fresco crowds outside.  Girls in shorts rode up the High Street on their bicycles. Young mothers in skirts pushed prams down George Street. Men munching magnums wandered along the Cowley Road.

• Have your say

Always a reason to celebrate with Malbec

9:07am Tuesday 23rd April 2013

There appears to be a day to celebrate all kinds of weird and wonderful things. January 13th was rubber ducky day.  Thousands of the little yellow bath friends floated down international waters brightening up a dull January.  International Pillow fight day invaded Trafalgar Square at the start of the month.  Feathers flew making Nelson look like he was standing watch in the midst of a snowstorm. Yesterday was “World Malbec Day.”

• Have your say

Yes, it's cold outside but it's no rum deal

5:50pm Tuesday 2nd April 2013

Oxford Alcademic tastings feature rum at the start of the year.

• Follow Oxford Alcademics here.

• Have your say

Friday pick-me-up stops me from seeing red

11:03am Thursday 28th March 2013

I dread Fridays. It is always the last day of a long weeks work. This past one ended disappointingly by a dinner cancellation. My mood did not improve with a wet cycle down the Botley Road. I tried entering the Oxford Wine Company’s shop quietly so I wouldn’t disturb the Argentinean tasting in session. The loud pinging as the door opened made that impossible.

• Have your say

House wine was from wrong place

12:00pm Thursday 21st March 2013

What I am about to say next will probably result in my wine ‘re-education.’  I can already hear the tut-tutting from colleagues, and twitter followers dropping me like a tarnished penny. However, some of my best deals come from supermarkets.

• Have your say

A whisky master class

12:02pm Saturday 16th March 2013

"Isn't anythin' Ah got whiskey won't cure." – William Faulkner

• Have your say

Savouring a wines's best description

9:54am Wednesday 13th March 2013

When you hear the word savoury, you think of cheese, meat pies, or olives and nuts. You rarely think of wine.

• Have your say

Skinny wines take weight off mind

11:40am Tuesday 12th March 2013

January is over and thankfully, so are those detox diets. It is time to look ahead to spring, but don’t ruin that beach body you sweated over all month. There are alternatives to big red wines that are lower in alcohol and in calories.  Wine makers are answering a demand and wines up to13.5% abv are more popular than ever.

• Banrock Station Light
• Essenze Vine Dancer
• Oxford Wine Cafe Opening Easter

• Have your say

Mixing the traditional and modern

10:12am Thursday 7th March 2013

“Wine is not made to be watched- it is made to be drunk!”

• M. Chapoutier
• Mentzendorff
• 2008 Ermitage Blanc, Cuvee de L'Orée, Michel Chapoutier

• Have your say

Really wild after winter

3:14pm Wednesday 27th February 2013

The first trip of the year to the plot is always laden with trepidation.

• Have your say

Best wines when it pays to go big

11:49am Friday 22nd February 2013

The Rickety Press at 67 Cranham Street, in Jericho, is adding a few new dinners delectable.  Last Wednesday they launched their Champagne & Oyster night. It was so successful they carried the oysters through Valentine’s Day and into the weekend. It continues Wednesday night as long as the month has the letter 'r' in it. Customers also get £10 off any bottle of fizz they order.

• The Rickety Press
• Stevens Garnier Chateau Jaumard.
• Majestic Wines
• Oddbins, Little Clarendon Street

• Have your say

Lovely Champagne is worth a pop

11:05am Thursday 7th March 2013

Valentine’s Day is dangerous.  Plan too much and you can be accused of falling for the corporate advertising ploy.  If you ignore the holiday altogether, you obviously don’t care.

• Blenheim Palace Orangery
• Champagne Bar Menu
• The Oxford Blue
• No. 1 Folly Bridge

• Have your say

The Big Society is a "youth club for adults."

11:02am Thursday 7th February 2013

Walking into the Big Society on Cowley Road feels more like walking into a quirky Californian watering hole. Historic wooden locker doors front the bar.  Glazed tiles and funky artwork hang on the walls. A bottle cap stamp emblazoned with Big Society and reminiscent of 1960s Cuba, is scattered on the old school furniture.

• The Big Society Oxford.
• The Original Rabbit Foot Spasm Band.
• The Big Bang Oxford
• Cotswold Cider Company

• Have your say

Worms' fate in frozen waste

4:14pm Wednesday 23rd January 2013

Last night I marched (slid) about 100 tiger worms to their inevitable death.

• Have your say

Lighting up Burns Night

7:02pm Friday 18th January 2013

Fair fa' your honest, sonsie face, Great chieftain o' the puddin'-race! - Robert Burns.

• Turl Street Kitchen
• The Royal Oak, Woodstock Road, Oxford
• Stevens Garnier on Botley Road
• Master of Malt

• Have your say