Fabulous news; The Oxford Times Wine Club Dinners are back and the first of the 2010 series is on Tuesday, April 13. Those of you who have come before will know that our dinners are sociable affairs and the emphasis is on providing great food and delicious wines in a relaxed atmosphere.

What is different is the venue and we are delighted to have found what we believe to be the prefect partner in The Cherwell Boathouse (www.cherwellboathouse.co.uk).

Taking centre stage at the April dinner are the Rioja wines of Luis Cañas. This family-owned winery, situated in Rioja’s Alavasa sub-region, has a history dating back to 1928 but it is really only in the last 30 years that the wines have made their presence known on the international stage. The crop of gold medals is an indication of how well they have been received.

The evening will be led by Jose Miguel Zubia from the Cañas estate and he will talk us through a selection of some of their very best wines. Given that so many people think only in terms of red wine when it comes to Rioja, I am particularly pleased that there will be an opportunity to discover not one but two white Rioja wines.

There will then follow three of the estate’s very finest red wines.

As you might expect from a Spanish evening, we have opted for a tapas theme for the food — the advantage being that we can provide a selection of dishes to try with the two red wines that will be served with the main course dishes.

One of the wines we are showing is the Amaren Graciano; a rare Rioja given that it is made entirely from the Graciano grape.

I have a particular weakness for Graciano, probably because it is notoriously fickle and makes the poor grape grower work hard to extract its wonderfully aromatic, spicy, hugely-concentrated fruit flavours. Tricky to grow, it yields at significantly lower volumes than a grape like Tempranillo and so you do not get too much wine at the end.

Still, fanatics like me think that all the effort is worth it and I am confident you will enjoy the chance to taste the example from Cañas.

There will be five wines served during the course of the evening and, along with the team at the Cherwell Boathouse, we have created a three-course menu that we believe will complement the wines perfectly.

Tickets cost £49.95 and include all wine and food. To book your place please contact Theo Sloot at The Oxford Wine Company theo@oxfordwine.co.uk or 01865 301144.

The Cherwell Boathouse is located on Bardwell Road and directions are available on the restaurant website. Wine is poured generously on the evening, making the excellent public transport links which are available from Banbury Road (a five- to ten-minute walk from the Boathouse) an option to consider.

We do hope you will be able to join us for what we think will be a terrific evening.

You can read more about Sarah and sign up for her wine postcards at www.wine-talk.co.uk