Raise a glass to new kind of drinks festival
MERCHANT WANTS WINE-TASTING TO LOSE ITS ‘TRADITIONALIST’ IMAGE
RESERVE Wines has revealed grand plans for a new wine festival later this month, taking over Fairfield Social Club.
The Didsbury-based wine merchant hopes to re-invent the wine tasting experience and bring together some of the region’s best food and drink producers.
The event’s been inspired by the lively beer festivals that take place across Manchester, featuring more than 100 wines to choose from, all from independent producers.
“It’s always been about making wine fun and accessible and this type of event totally fits in with what we are trying to demonstrate,” said Reserve Wines founder and BBC Goodman.
“There are too many preconceptions and traditionalism surrounding wine and we think Manchester is ready to see past these and join in the fun.”
As well as wines, there’ll be two local gin producers – Manchester’s Three Rivers Gin and Faith & Sons – and the English Whisky Co.
“Gin and spirits as a category have obviously emerged as key attractions and we cannot conceive running drinks expert Kate an event without showcasing some of the best examples out there,” added event organiser Nic Rezzouk. “Luckily, we didn’t have to go too far to find them.” There’ll also be stalls from three of the city’s most popular street food traders: Latin American food from Yakumama, Sicilian risotto balls from Little Orange Co, and French patisserie ChouChoux. “Wine and food go hand-in-hand, family and friends around the table. Manchester is a buzzing place for great food right now and being able to work Kate Goodman with such talented people on both sides of food and drink is just brilliant,” says Kate, who used to present Food & Drink on BBC2 alongside Michel Roux Jr.
Fairfield Social Club, under the arches near Manchester Piccadilly, was home to GRUB during the winter before it moved back to Mayfield Depot in May. The food event moguls still manage the venue. The Reserve Wine & Food Festival takes place on Friday from 5pm to 10.30pm.
Entry will cost £7, plus booking fee. As with beer festivals, there’ll be a token system in place for buying drinks – £10 will get you 11 tokens, or you can get 24 tokens for £20. Wine will be served in 50ml servings, costing between one and five tokens each.
Visit Eventbrite to buy tickets.