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Oxford, a centre of wine learning
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| Summertown Wine Cafe |
If I had a bottle of wine for every time someone told me I had one of the best jobs in the world, I could start having baths in the stuff. People envy the regular wine tastings and who am I to blame them?
Oxford is a city that provides opportunities to learn more about wine, ranging from the formal to relaxed. Here are a few to consider.
The Summertown Wine Café offers one of the most relaxed and friendliest - for tasting and drinking. The wine list is updated frequently and every month a dozen or so wines are selected by the staff and members of their Nude Bottle Society to suit the season. These wines are available by the glass, by 375ml carafe, by the bottle or even to take home. It's a great way to explore exciting new wines.
The café also has a programme of events. I love the idea of their champagne and oyster evenings every Thursday. It's £1.50 per oyster or £3 for three and a glass of Mumm will set you back a modest £6. If it's an education you are after then their website gives details of a forthcoming course called Wine Journey. The wine list and information on events can be found at www.summertownwinecafe.co.uk
Another firm, Individual Wines (www.individualwines.com), has recently started running wine dinners. Hosted at the High Table Restaurant, High Street, the dinners offer tastings of interesting, older vintages from some of the world's classic wine regions. The recent Châteauneuf-du-Pape dinner included, among others, a 1988 Vieux Télégraphe and a 1994 Beaucastel. The dinners are informal and friendly and you won't have to worry about endless wine talk. If you do want to know more, Individual Wine's Richard Loadman will fill you in.
The Oxford Wine Company (www.oxfordwine.co.uk) also offers great value and hugely entertaining tastings. They are taking a breather in August but come September their programme kicks off with a tasting of Spanish wines followed a few weeks later by a tutored tasting of the Lebanese wines of Château Musar. Competitively priced at £12, including a light, but excellent, buffet, these evenings are held at the company head office in Standlake.
It's not uncommon for people to organise private wine tastings. I think they are a great idea for anniversary and wedding gifts or even hen nights and corporate bashes.
A lady who is well placed to do this for you is Frederika Adam, who manages the wine list at the Cherwell Boathouse. I had lunch with Frederika recently and am in no doubt that she would offer a well-informed and good, fun evening. You can contact her on 01865 552746.
If you have still got an appetite for more, it's perhaps the time to consider something a bit more serious. There are two choices. The first is Wine Matters (www.winematters-oxon.co.uk), which is run by Master of Wine (MW) Michael Palij. Accredited by the Wine & Spirits Education Trust, the courses start in the autumn on a path that could lead you all the way to the MW. If you are interested, book quickly.
The Oxford and Cherwell College (www.ocvc.ac.uk) also runs the WSET courses and they begin in September.
Those that sign up and pass the first level, known as the Intermediate Certificate course, will be able to join the Oxford Wine Club (www.oxfordwineclub.org.uk), which is a well run - and dynamic - outfit. They hold monthly tastings from the autumn, the quality of which I have not seen exceeded by any other club.
The best thing about all of this is that you can still hold down a steady job that, hopefully, pays you enough to indulge your hobby . . . Given what's going on in Oxford, I might almost be ready to swap!
Click here for The Oxford Times Wine Club offers.
9:56am Thursday 24th July 2008
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