At The Oxford Wine Company we spend our days surrounded by thousands of delicious wines, spirits and beers. But which of them do we decide to drink at home? Take a look below for our team’s top picks for this month.
What We’re Drinking in August
Ted Sandbach, Owner & Chairman
Domaine Zind-Humbrecht Turkheim Gewurztraminer, Alsace 2020 – £26.50 £23.85 – This is one of those wines that is absolutely delicious if you like strong pungent, lychee and spicy flavours and is great with pate or at the end of a meal. It’s not a dessert wine as such but I kept a bottle in the fridge recently and just had a glass each night. If you are new to wine you must try Gewurztraminer with classic versions coming from the Alsace region in France, but you can find other good examples from Spain, Chile and the USA. You’ll love it or hate it!
Bethany First Village Old Vine Grenache 2019 – £19.50 £17.55 – The Australian wine world is changing, and this Grenache is an excellent example of the new wave wines being produced these days. With beautifully pure strawberry fruit and a real elegance, this Grenache is for Pinot Noir lovers.
Neil Gladding, Sales Director
Albert Bichot Viré-Clessé 2020– £29.00 £26.10 – The mouth has well-balanced structure and beautiful minerality which gives way to a certain light sweetness during the finish.
Henri Fabre Dédicace Bandol Rosé, Côtes de Provence 2023 – £22.50 £19.80 – Posh Rosé impress your friends!
Vina Progreso Revolution Tannat, Uruguay 2022 – £15.50 £13.95 – Recently tasted this wine and it’s a superb example! Very rich and cries out for a steak.
John Shuckburgh, WSET Educator
Domaine du Petit Clocher Anjou Villages Rouge 2022 – £16.75 £15.08 – A lighter style of Cabernet Sauvignon, blended with 30% Cabernet Franc from this super family producer. This is a cooler climate style of Cabernet with refreshing acidity, pronounced blackcurrant and raspberry fruit and a dash of green pepper. Great summer red, give try it with Charcuterie.
El Dorado 15 Year Old – £67.00 £60.30 – A lusciously intense, rich fruitcake of a rum. If anything was going to tempt me away from my favourite Speyside Single Malt, this is it!
Tiefenbrunner Merus Gewürztraminer 2023 – £21.00 £18.90 – You have got to try this! It’s deliciously different! A high quality, dry example of this perfumed, honeyed grape variety showing intense purity of fruit, ripened at altitude in Sud Tyrol. If you want to sound like a wine expert, just say ‘this wine has great varietal typicity’…
Manda Joyce, Wine Advisor
Château de la Gardine Côtes du Rhône Villages 2020 – £19.50 £17.55- Others come and go but this beautifully made Côtes du Rhône has kept its place in my top 10 for all the five years I’ve worked here.
No Brainer Cider 33cl, Cotswold Cider Co. – £2.25 £2.03 – I keep two or three bottles of this in the fridge for when I want a modest glass of something cold, complex and bubbly to have before or with food.
Peri Peri Vicere Inzolia – IGT Terre Siciliane 2023 – £16.50 £14.85 – So pleased to see this fantastic Sicilian wine back in stock. Definite pink grapefruit edge to its citrussy vibes, plus tropical fruits and wet stones.
Tom Brady, Shop Manager & Spirits Buyer
Nc’nean Quiet Rebels Lorna – £84.00 £75.60- The second limited edition release from Nc’nean’s Quiet Rebels series sees a combination of ex-American whiskey casks with ex-Pinneau des Charentes casks for a rich, toasty whisky that’s packed with fruit.
Château de Carles Fronsac, Bordeaux 2018 – £25.00 £22.50- This wine has plush plummy red fruit and a great structure and is from a lesser known Bordeaux appellation.
Monte del Frà Soave Classico 2023 – £19.50 £17.55 – Fresh orchard fruit on the nose and toasty almond notes on the finish, what’s not to love?
Aljoscha Wright, Buyer
Dominio de Tares Dostares ‘Estay’ Vino de la Tierra de Castilla y Leon 2018 – £15.50 £13.95 – Light, crunchy and vegetal – and even better slightly chilled and consumed with BBQ.
Claret Vetrino Single Vineyard, Odessos Urban Winery 2023 – £22.50 £20.25 – A new summery addition to our range, is it a light red or a dark rose? Either way it’s delicious!
Peri Peri Magara Frappato – IGT Terre Siciliane 2021 – £18.50 £16.65 – I love the wines of Sicily. Always so lively, fresh and crunchy. Frappato also lends itself to being enjoyed slightly chilled.
Tim Bradley, Trade Sales & WSET Educator
La Compagnie Beaujolais Villages 2022 – £14.75 £13.28 – Soft, velvety red-berry fruit, unoaked and perfect slightly chilled for the summer!
Clos de Chevigné Les Morats, Saint-Veran 2022 – £25.75 £23.18 – Richly textured stone fruited flavours, balanced with bright acidity and a lick of some smoke from a few months of oak ageing. Delicious!
St Hallett ‘Gamekeepers’ Grenache Shiraz Touriga 2017 – £12.75 £11.48 – Powerful floral aromas of black cherries and blackberry and rose with ripe firm ripe velvety fruit on the palate. Delicious with a barbecue or steak!
Katy Barker, Retail Marketing Manager
Birbet Vino da Tavola, Marco Porello NV – £15.00 £13.50- One of the most delightful wines we have on the shelf! This semi-sweet, semi-sparkling red is pure and juicy, perfect on a sunny afternoon.
Dominio de Tares Cumal Prieto Picudo 2018 – £26.75 £24.08- Prieto Picudo is a rare variety found in the region Bierzo, and produces a vibrant red packed with wild berries with a savoury lick. Delicious with charcuterie!
Au Bon Climat Pinot Gris Pinot Blanc, Santa Barbara County 2022 – £30.50 £27.45 – This intriguing blend from Californian winery ABC has incredible balance of zippy lime zestiness and rich butteriness. Perfect for the vino-curious.
Min Yee Tseu, Corporate and University Account Manager
Domaine Lequin Colin Back to the Roots Bourgogne Blanc 2020– £32.50 £29.25 – Although it only says Bourgogne Blanc on the label, this white Burgundy punches way above that and has some sensational fruit characteristics that are back by a rich, creamy palate. An absolute banger!
Domaine Lequin Colin Santenay Vieilles Vignes 2021 – £35.00 £31.50 – Another sensational wine from Domaine Lequin Colin, this Red Burgundy has lovely crunch red fruit notes that are complemented by savoury and earthy characteristics. This is everything you want from a red Burgundy.
Alhambra Reserva (Case of 24) – £62.00 £55.80 – This is a rich lager from Spain that packs a bit of a punch. Perfect ice cold on a hot summer’s day!
Emily Silva, Head of Retail and Marketing
Guerrieri Rizzardi Cuvee XV Bardolino Classico DOP 2022 – £15.50 £13.95 – With deliciously sappy red fruit flavours and a light body, this is the ultimate in chillable reds. Pop a bottle in the fridge and pretend you’re in Venice.
Peri Peri Vicere Inzolia – IGT Terre Siciliane 2023 – £16.50 £14.85 – A delicious wine made using a little-known Italian white grape variety, from a family producer in Sicily. What more could you want?
Calma Indomita Albarin, Mauricio Lorcan-Leon 2023 – £16.75 £15.08 -This brand new arrival is a real gem. Made from the Albarin grape variety – related to but distinct from its more famous sibling Albarino, this is saline, concentrated and utterly compelling.
Nick Gorton, Shop Manager
The Black Craft Shiraz, Barossa Valley 2022 – £16.50 £14.85 – All the black fruit and spice you love from Shiraz, with none of the over-ripe jamminess that some Aussie examples can be dogged by. A great wine for a meaty BBQ!
Altocedro ‘Alandes’ Paradoux White Blend, Uco Valley NV – £26.50 £23.85- A non-vintage blend of Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc from Argentina, aged for 14 months in French oak. A wine for lovers of inventive winemaking. Ripe and toasty with refreshing minerality.
Bodegas Lustau Oloroso Don Nuno Dry Solera Familiar NV– £24.00 £21.60 – An amazing example of why sherry is often called “the cheapest fine wine in the world”. Nowhere else can you find such richness and complexity for the price, with amazing smoky nuttiness and a seemingly infinite finish.
John Chapman, Managing Director
Falchini Brut Spumante Metodo Classico Millesimato 2011 – £38.00 £34.20 – Simply well made! Full of power and bready flavours. A real mouthful with the potential to entertain you for many a glass.
The Agnes Chardonnay, Crystallum 2022 – £32.25 £29.03- A clean refreshing Chardonnay that is well balanced with subtle fruit and a little richness – you have heaven in glass here. To be tasted to be believed!
Domaine Gayda Chemin de Moscou, Pays d’Oc 2021 – £27.00 £24.30 – A powerhouse of subtly, how? Biodynamic winemaking coupled with ripe but well-formed fruit. Absolute elegance from this highly awarded Languedoc estate.
Thom Allinson, Buying & Logistics
Dr. Loosen Urziger Wurzgarten Riesling Kabinett, Mosel 2022 – £20.50 £18.45 – A recent standout for me in a room full of German Riesling. Ernie Loosen truly is a wizard!
Résonance Decouverte Vineyard Chardonnay, Oregon 2020 – £44.50 £40.05 – Super classy burgundy-style Chardonnay made by the famous Louis Jadot.
La Copa Vermouth Blanco – £17.00 £15.30 – Add a double measure to 150ml of Tonic water of your choosing to get a super refreshing lower ABV alternative to your G&T.
Romain Alaphilippe, Shop Manager
Cazcabel Blanco Tequila – £32.00 £28.20 -This is a classic Blanco created from the sun-baked Blue Weber agave from Jalisco and named after a legendary medicine-man Don Cazcabel.
Domaine Henri Gouges, Bourgogne Pinot Blanc 2021 – £34.50 £31.05 – Henri Gouges discovered the Pinot Blanc mutation of Pinot Noir in his beloved Clos des Porrets in 1936!!!
Château Pesquié Le Paradou Viognier, Ventoux 2022 – £15.50 £13.95 – Deliciously ripe Viognier with bright stone fruit and floral tones from the Ventoux!
Emma Bristow, Wine Advisor
Le P’tit Paysan Chardonnay, Jack’s Hill, Monterey County 2023 – £26.50 £23.85 – A refreshing Chardonnay from the Montery County in California, with crisp orchard fruits and subtle almond notes. Would go well with grilled lobster or chicken.
Ocho Tequila Reposado – £31.00 £27.90 – 100% Agave Tequila, with soft vanilla on the nose with almond and cinnamon notes. Makes a a great Margarita!
Torre Zambra Poggio Salaia Pecorino, Abruzzo 2023 – £18.00 £16.20 – Delicate hints of white flowers, citrus and grilled pineapple, with a crisp and refreshing palate. Delicious with a seafood risotto or pasta dish.
Lucy Harrison, Shop Manager
Henriques & Henriques 10 Year Old Malvasia – 50cl NV– £26.50 £23.85 – I’ve recently discovered a love for Madeira- this 10 year Malvasia is rich and full of caramel, walnuts and figs- a great accompaniment to chocolate desserts.
U. Passimiento, IGT , Baglio Gibellina 2022- £14.50 £13.05 -A full-bodied Sicilian blend of Frappato and Nero d’Avola -full of ripe red fruits and blackberries, with silky smooth tannins. Perfect for pasta ragus.
Wente Morning Fog Chardonnay, Livermore Valley 2022– £19.75 £17.78 – Aromas of apples, lemons, tropical fruits and vanilla, balanced with refreshing minerality. A cracking full-bodied oaked Californian Chardonnay for under £20!