A weekend of wines worth discovering, in the heart of Oxford.
Our work often extends beyond the dimly-lit confines of the bars – this time to the Oxford Wine Fair, where we created a space to introduce our wines, stories and venues to a wider audience. It was a wonderful time, greeting old and meeting new – all within the stunning setting of the Oxford Examination schools.
As always, we put together an eclectic lineup – which is exactly how we like it. Funky sparkling, chilled red and natty orange all in full force, alongside some more autumnal reds and textured whites.
We brought:
Tiziano Bellini Pet Nat Rosé ‘Turdoi’ 2024
Lyrarakis Dafni 2025
Weingut Kemetner Grüner Veltliner #nofilter 2023
Weingut Machherndl Pulp Fiction Orange 2021
Pizzini Lambrusco 2024
Vigneti Vumbaca Cirò Rosato 2025
Lyrarakis Liatiko 2024
Not Your Grandma’s Chillable Red 2023
Domaine Jones Fitou 2023
M.O.B. Lote 3 Tinto 2023
It’s fair to say the Pulp Fiction Orange stole the show over the weekend, a firm favourite for the experienced orange aficionados and for those just dipping their toes in. The brainchild of 8th generation Erich Machherndl out in Wachau, Austria, this is a blend of 3 grapes: Weissburgunder (Pinot Blanc), Frühroter Veltliner and Muscat. 100 year old vines give it a wonderful concentration and it spends 2 months on the skins for bucketloads of colour and texture. It’s all about grapefruit, peach and a bit of IPA funk in the background. Seriously quaffable.
A special mention for our Pizzini Lambrusco too, a vibrant red sparkling made in Victoria, Australia by an Italian family. It managed to unite sceptics and curious winos alike – we even had thumbs up from a fair few Italian people after trying it, even the ones from Emilia Romagna (home to Lambrusco!).
We also (although as a prop!) brought a three litre bottle of Burgundian Ratafia – this will be poured as a wine of the week special next week, 5th October. Ratafia is a liqueur, made from the unfermented, fresh juice from champagne production and a healthy amount of marc, or local grape spirit. What you end up with after a bit of aging, is a rich liqueur that still retains a lovely acidity and freshness – the perfect aperitif. We picked up this particular bottle on a recent trip to Beaune, having been beguiled by the Quentin Blake-esque artwork and the fact it was a rare Burgundian Ratafia.
These three wines show what we love about events. They give us a fantastic opportunity to showcase wines that are exciting, new, and stop people in their tracks. We want to say a huge thank you to everyone who stopped by the Popina table, tasted with us and chatted all things wine, food and events!
And if you missed us at the fair, don’t worry. Our autumn/winter menu will be launching soon, with a treasure trove of new bottles: silky reds, curious whites and a whole new sake list to boot. Our tasting series restarts this Wednesday 30th September with a Cognac masterclass, and will continue more or less every fortnight until Christmas. Tickets on the website.
See you at the bar.
Popina by Lynrace
Wine | Cheese & Charcuterie | Tastings
