The Oxford Times Wine Club, wine offers, features awith The Oxford Wine Company and Sara McCleery

Got post-Olympic blues? I prescribe a strong, fruity Syrah

12:53pm Monday 1st October 2012

Summer is most definitely over. The autumnal equinox flew by us this past weekend. The Olympics, Paralympics and Victory Parade are a distant memory and the Jubilee- a shadow.

• Lam Syrah from SH Jones
• Vagabond Wines, Quinta-do-Seival castas portugesas
• The Big Bang!

The moose eyed the Syrah that stood up to the beef

10:32am Monday 24th September 2012

I feel like I’m being watched. I look over my right shoulder and there, eyeing up my vino, is head of a moose. The giant mammal is part of the charm of the Oxford Blue and it will have to put up with a lot of people scratching its nose as the autumn changes to this local pub come in full swing. Thursdays Chris Murray and his talented Chef Mark Bradbury are launching a steak night, Tuesdays they will start a live performance and a new seasonal menu are all part of the exciting plans, but what I really wanted to find out about was the wine. The thing about Chris is he is passionate about his wine and local beers. Before we even sat down he was showing me the Oxfordshire Ales and chatting excitedly about his new finds. 

• The Oxford Blue
• Cat Weazle Club

Keeping it local . . . . with Champagne?

3:34pm Friday 14th September 2012

Last Thursday I began the day with a glass of Champagne in the sun. This uncommon occurrence was a preview to the wines on offer at “Keeping It Local” at the Oxford Castle Quarter this weekend, and one of the stars is the Champagne.

• Tour of France at S H Jones Wines
• Keeping it Local
• First Class Products
• Laithwaites Wines

Reds need chilling as room temperature rises

10:35am Thursday 30th August 2012

This weekend’s foodie festival wasn’t all about food.  There were plenty of libations to keep even the thirstiest satisfied.  Besides the drinks master classes and without even mentioning the Casillero del Diablo wine stand I counted, three separate coffee stands, as well as milkshake, smoothies, juices of varying ingredients from fruit and vegetable to herbal, organic milk products, spiced hot chocolate, a range of teas, cider, water, beers, Oxfordshire Ales, sangria, rum, three further wine stands, a bubbly import stand, ginseng spirit and gin. By the time I got to men serving Mojitos I had lost count and decided maybe I should just stick with the master classes.

• Pictures from the Foodies Festival

• Have your say

Plenty left to toast as summer draws to close

11:28am Friday 24th August 2012

The final summer bank holiday is upon us.  With the Jubilee celebrations a distant memory and the Olympic flame doused, you might wonder what there is left to toast? Well, if you live in Oxford, then there is plenty.

Spirited offerings deliver tastes of summer

10:09am Saturday 16th June 2012

Impressed by Christopher Gray’s description of the Gavi di Gavi Cru Maddalena he drank while at the Garsington Opera, I decided to revisit this often-overlooked white wine. The Gavi is a small region in Italy Southwest of Milan and offers a zesty alternative to Pinot Grigios. I popped by the Oxford Wine Company, to pick up a bottle of Comprosso Gavid di Gavi, for £11.99. It is a wonderful example of the wine, pale straw in colour, with light aroma of apples. It’s full bodied, with high acidity and minerality giving it crispness. It has a long finish and at only 12.5% ABV, it isn’t too heavy for summer.

• Oxford Wine Company
• Bepi Tosolini, the parent company of Fragola.
• Mandarine Napoleon

Gin makes a revival as a Jubilee tipple

12:45am Saturday 2nd June 2012

For years, the “it” drink has been Vodka.

Jericho's Jubilee is the place to be

10:05am Friday 25th May 2012

I don’t drink beer. I can taste it. I can sip it. I can even appreciate the flavours and how it’s made, but I don’t drink it. Even when beer is the only alternative, I will happily drink water.

• The Harcourt Arms
• The Rickety Press.

The complex code of natural wine

5:34pm Thursday 17th May 2012

May is the month to celebrate organic, biodynamic and natural wines.

• The Real Wine Fair
• Artisan Wine Fair
• Vintage Roots

Tricky vegetable demands precise match

9:12am Friday 11th May 2012

Organisers cancelled the Asparagus Festival in Evesham because of rain and flooding. Now we are told British asparagus is in crisis. Luckily, Medley Farm in Binsey continues to supply local shops, restaurants and the public. Millets farm shop in Abingdon sells their asparagus daily. They are growing a portion of their crop under poly tunnels meaning even the cold May start can’t stop the crop. As the rest of the country suffers with imports from Peru, Oxonians will be eating the fresh British veg.

• Matching food and wine with Fiona Beckett
• Raymond Blanc Cookery School
• Camel Valley Bacchus Dry 2011