PERENNIAL favourite on the opening weekend of the Manchester Food and Drink Festival is the Big Indie Wine Fest, now in its eighth year. More than 100 wines from the pick of the region’s indie wine suppliers will be available to taste over three sessions across Friday, September 11 and Saturday the 12th in the spectacular Great Hall of Manchester Town Hall.
Evening slots run from 6pm-9pm and an there’s an extra afternoon session on September 12, from 2pm-5pm. Tickets, for each session, a tasting glass included, cost £12.50 and are available via this link.
If you can’t make it to the Wine Fest (or even if you can) don’t miss out on the new MFDF Wine Passport – which allows festival-goers to get a £5 glass of fine wine during any of the 12 days of the MFDF (September 10-21) from many of the best restaurants in town, including Hawksmoor, Salvi’s, Salut, Harvey NIchols, Iberica, Wine & Wallop and many more. Full list here.
It couldn’t be easier to use the passport. Just show Page 42 of the MFDF brochure at the bar. Brochures can be found at the Festival Hub in Albert Square and across venues in Manchester or, alternatively, download a copy here.
The Big Indie Wine Fest offers the biggest range of independent retailers yet with wines from across the globe from South Africa to Switzerland and accompanying fodder from the Cheshire Cheese Company, Veeno and Epicerie Ludo (the latter pair also showcasing their wines):
Corks Out – Independent retailer with stores in Stockton Heath, Alderley Edge, Timperley Village, Knutsford and Chester.
Alpine Wines – Online indie operstion sourcing from heroic high altitude winemakers.
Reserve Wines – BBC presenter Kate Goodman makes wine accessible at her north west stores, and stocks many bottles from small producers.
Tour de Belfort – Hale-based trader making organic wines at their family owned vineyard in southern France. They now have nine different wines and have earned 16 medals since their first harvest in 2009.
Epicerie Ludo – Independently run deli, wine merchant and grocery store on Chorlton’s Beech Road, which won MFDF Best Retailer in 2014.
Veeno – Sicilian wines made for three generations at their family vineyard now showcased at an expanding roster of wine bars (Manchester branch, pictured).
Italyabroad.com – Northerners who love Italian small producer wines and import directly from Italy, observing a fair wage policy. Look out for their Passerina Spumante from Abruzzo.
Pacta Connect – Central and Eastern Europe specialist, with wines from north-east Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey.
Manchester Wine School – Local, independent wine educator.
Spirited Wines – Classy Deansgate shop that has now opened an upstairs wine bar, Bistrovin, offering the best cheese and wine platters in the city.
Crus Bourgeois De Medoc – Bordeaux red wines experts who produce Médoc, Haut-Médoc, Listrac-Médoc, Moulis, Saint-Julien, Pauillac, and Saint-Estèphe.
The Little English Champagne House – a family run champagne house and award winner.
Oddbins – This resurgent High Street merchant features a strong core of classic regions wine with some small wine producers and locally sourced beer and spirits.
Commanderie de Bordeaux – Manchester Bordeaux lovers’ group will be showing a selection of wines from producers the have strong links with. Expect some hidden gems not normally available in the North West.
There’ll also be a series of masterclasses happening throughout the Indie Wine Fest from some of Manchester’s favourite experts, these will be bookable at the event itself.