The year 1855 is a date recognised to any oenophile as the year Bordeaux was classified. This was not the vineyards' own doing for self-promotion or plan to get higher prices from the patrons who enjoy the wine. 

It was a simple order by Napoleon III so he could showcase the best French wines at the Universal Exposition in Paris. 

Now Oxonians will know the date as the name of a new café opening in June in the Castle Quarter.  1855 is the “brain child” of Chris Mulhall, a Nuclear Engineering consultant from a family of hoteliers and chefs, who relaxes by running successful businesses in the hospitality industry. He might be an overachiever, but Chris Mulhall has found gap in the Oxford restaurant industry.

Chris says,  “There are plenty of food outlets (in Oxford), but wine seems to always play second fiddle. This is one of the reasons I wanted to create something that spoke primarily about the wine, not just from a drinking point of view but from an educational slant.”

What you will find is a venue that goes a bit further.  It will offer locally sourced food from small suppliers and cottage industries along with the recommended wines by the glass. Those recommendations will not be simple blind instructions.  Instead of just finding a wine you like- you will learn why you like that wine. 

To assist him with this goal is wine aficionado Alistair Cooper who will be the General Manager for 1855.  Beyond food, 1855 will have coffee. Now I know you are thinking that are plenty of coffee shops in Oxford. The difference is that their coffee beans will be sourced from the farm or cooperative. They will be found from the rain forest alliance, fair trade and organic. Even Costa Coffee can’t promise the triple certification of 1855.

Wine lovers who attended the Chelsea flower show, they had an extra reason to celebrate. Marlborough’s own Cloudy Bay entered its first ever garden in the competition. With the theme of “Always precious, sometimes scarce.”

Garden designers Gavin McWilliams and Andrew Wilson created the Cloudy Bay Discovery Garden, inspired by the Idyllic setting of the New Zealand Vineyard.

The canopy was based on the Cloudy Bay shack in New Zealand. The stream mimics the Wairau River. All you needed to truly feel antipodean was to kick your shoes off and paddle barefoot in their stream with a crisp glass of Sauvignon Blanc.