Oxford’s Sandbach adds to wine bar stable

By Andrew Catchpole

Published: 04 November, 2024

After a hiatus of several years the original site of the first Oxford Wine Café is to be reborn as the Oxford Wine Tavern.

The new venue, opening 20 November, will bring the number of owner Ted Sandbach’s wine bars in the city to three, with son George also owning Sandy’s Piano and Wine Bar in Oxford, and son Will having opened Amie in London’s Eccleston Yard.

On a visit to the site, Ted Sandbach, who is of course best known as the founder of the Oxford Wine Company, explained to Harpers that despite shutting doors on the original Oxford Wine Café due to a 25% hike in rent, he had sublet, having still been tied into the lease.

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“A couple of restaurants have come and gone… when the site became free again I thought ‘let’s give it a go’,” said Sandbach. “There was still eight years on the lease I think this style of business is better suited than another restaurant.”

He added that he was “delighted” to have reclaimed his original site, adding that its location in the wealthy northern suburb of Summertown would fill a gap for a casual wine bar.

The Oxford Wine Tavern will serve simple food, such as cheese and meat platters, soups and salads, alongside a changing selection of both classic and more adventurous wines, with the latter supplied solely by the Oxford Wine Company – as is the case with all Sandbach’s wine bars.

However, despite this symbiotic relationship, the Oxford Wine Company and Oxford Wine Cafés are run as separate companies, ring-fencing each business.

With four retail wine shops, plus a concession, Sandbach nonetheless bucks the current trend for combining on- and off-trade under the one roof.

“I don’t believe in hybrids, as very few shops have the space to do this well,” he said. “You need a really big space, which is difficult to find in central Oxford.”

The Oxford Wine Company is celebrating 33 years in business this year and is a regular high achiever in Harpers annual 50 Best Indies listing.

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