East Oxford’s Cowley Road isn’t short of party venues, but it can sometimes be lacking in grown-up hangouts. For nine weeks in the run-up to Christmas, that’s going to change.
From Friday 20th October for a nine-week period, Vine will be popping up every Friday and Saturday from 5-11pm at the original Atomic Burger site on Cowley Road, more recently known as Big Ron’s and kindly provided by James & Jessica Reilly.
The man behind the project is Leigh Gooding, ex Love Bar (who remembers that glass floor?!) and Lemon Tree (which should have made it to our Oxford Restaurants of the Past piece!) and now a Wine Merchant.
The drinks menu will feature an evolving selection of six whites, six reds, two or three sparkling wines and a spirit of the week. Wine will be available to take away for around £10-20 per bottle, or by the glass and bottle to drink in at a slightly higher price.
At least a third of the wines listed will be either organic or biodynamic (a more holistic version of organic, full wiki explanation here), and owners have some great local producers they’re talking to for the food. Talking of food, nibbly food pairings will be the food order of the day – think meats, cheeses, crostini, etc; and the style of the bar will be rustic French meets industrial chic.
There is still a lot of scope for additional extras – such as mixed cases delivered to your home, tasting evenings and venue hire, so follow Vine Oxford on Twitter for further updates. Sounds bloody fantastic so far.
Update: Ready to Launch
Friday 20th October.
Becca and I popped by last night for a quick nosey at the progress before the doors open at 5pm tonight!
Expect an interesting and varied selection of drinks – not just wine either, spirits, beers and soft drinks too. Our pals Loose Cannon feature on the drinks list, along with locally produced TOAD gin and vodka, plus a port I’m dying to tuck into and a rather delicious selection of spiced rums and chuggable gins.
While Becca and I are mostly spirits drinkers *hic* we each found wines that suited our taste, and the team running the pop-up are eager to give customers the chance to sample and try the wines, offering helpful advice and recommendations. Even Becca – who typically dislikes red wine – was a convert.
Remember – this is just a pop-up for now. If you like the concept and want it to be a longer-term project, make sure you go along and support it!
The launch night is tonight and all are welcome, then after that Vine Oxford will be open from 5-11pm every Friday and Saturday for the next 10 weeks.
Follow them on socials @VineOxford.
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