Raymond Blanc, writing in the Guardian 29/9/2007

'...It has a lovely ambience, and the young owners really know their stuff - I have discovered so many new wines through them. They don't have a kitchen, and just serve a few snacks - some pâté, a nice chunk of ham. If I get hungry, I nip across the road to Mamma Mia's and bring back a pizza to eat with my wine. '

See full article

Here is a review from the Oxford Times 16/9/2005,

by John Stimpfig
(Louis Roederer International Wine Writer of 2005)

IN many ways, the brand new Summertown Wine Café, which recently opened its doors in North Oxford's chic South Parade, does exactly what it says on the tin. It's more than a wine bar, it sells pastries as well as some delicious deli-style food throughout the day. But what really makes this exciting new venue hit the spot is its remarkable wine list - and then some.

Quite by chance, I had heard of its planned arrival earlier this summer. And it was also by chance that I heard about its opening at the end of July, when I managed to secure an invitation. However, busy opening nights aren't necessarily the best ways to review a venue.

Nonetheless, first impressions from the attractively bold design and décor right down to the Riedel glass ware were uniformly good. But, for me, the real stars of the night were the wines and the staff. The latter were enthusiastic, warm and knowledgeable. As for the former, they were well chosen, interesting and astonishingly good value both by the bottle and the glass.

Prices start at £4 a glass or £10.95 a bottle for the house white and red. But my advice is to tuck into the marginally more expensive wines further up the list where you get a remarkable bang for your buck.

For instance, a stunningly more-ish bottle of soft and sweetly-fruited Morton Estate New Zealand Pinot Noir at £14 was an absolute steal, as was a complex Burgundian-style 2004 Hamilton Russell Chardonnay at just £15.45.

In fact, all the 30 or so wines were priced at very un-restaurant like prices. The object according to the Summertown Wine Café's entrepreneurial co-owner, Rob Malcolm "is to pick good wines and price them at such an affordable level that it encourages people to taste and enjoy them".

And that's by no means all. If you want to taste your way through the range to see which ones you like, you can do so for a mere £2 each.

Another thing I like about the café is that you can also buy the same wines at mouth-wateringly attractive retail prices too, by the case or bottle. In fact, the difference between buying to take the wine home or drinking it on the premises is a waifer thin £3.50 corkage fee.

Such slim margins and clear price transparency goes against the grain of most 'rip-off' restauranteurs who generally prefer a mark up of three to four times the retail value.

So if you wanted to drink Aldo Conterno's fabulous 2001 Conca Tre Pile Barbera d'Alba in most wine bars or restaurants, you would probably fork out more than £60 compared to the £20.50 it costs here.

Equally, you won't be able to find it any cheaper on any other merchants list than its giveaway retail price of £17. I know because I've looked.

Quite sensibly, the Summertown Wine Café concentrates on wines in the £12 - 20 category but it does have some good champagnes costing a tad more and the odd special occasion red, including Grant Burge's ultra-fine 1998 Meschach Shiraz at £48.45 to drink in the restaurant (or $44.95 to take away).

In contrast, one London wine merchant will charge you £55 a bottle for the same privilege, making it cheaper to drink here than at home.

Moreover, the good news doesn't end here. The café also cleverly rotates half of its wines with a monthly selection of about 12 new, exciting labels to keep the punters coming back for more. Serious oenophiles can even volunteer to take part in the wine selection panels.

So when I went back at the end of last month to see how the new list was looking and how the café was performing, I wasn't remotely disappointed. The place was still buzzing while the second monthly selection had plenty of cracking, well-priced wines, including a citrussy Spanish Albarino, a punchy Italian Dolcetto and an awesome Californian Chardonnay from Calera.

Apart from tasting my way through all 12 wines, I also ordered some cold meats, cheese and bread and was overwhelmed by the vast plateful of scrummy cheeses, ham, salami and salad, along with the equally sizeable chunks of good, fresh bread. And the price of all this came to just £9.

As a result, I simply can't fault the Summertown Wine Café for food, wine, service, atmosphere or value, except for the fact that it isn't within walking distance of my front door.

Yet I do have a niggling worry that it simply won't be able to sustain such generous pricing policies over the long term. This won't remotely surprise Rob Malcolm who acknowledges that some people think he's 'crazy'.

"Perhaps we are," he said. "But we'd like to think it's civilised to let people share a great bottle of wine at a great price at our place. Crazy or civilised revolution, we'll let you decide."

The Summertown Wine Café is at 38 South Parade, Summertown, telephone 01865 558800.