Manchester Wine Festival

The very first Manchester Wine Festival will take place on Saturday 21 September at New Century Hall. This brand new event is designed for Manchester’s rapidly growing community of wine lovers, delivering a grape-packed line-up of the best wine bars, producers, brands, tastings, talks, DJs, activities and more.

Among them will be local brands such as Kerb, Reserve Wines, Sterling and Grape to Grain plus names like Minuty, Top Cuvée and Piper Heidsieck on board, who will be hosting the Piper-Heidsieck champagne lounge. The team have also secured a partnership with the Coop, who will be working alongside fair trade wineries at the event, with sales providing support to vital community projects in Argentina, South Africa and Chile. 

Expect tastings, a bottleshop, masterclasses and pairings with local favourites such as Chorlton Cheesemonger plus expert activations from names like Tony Park and “sherry revolutionary”, Diatomist Sherry. Top Cuvée will also be supplying cocktails to the house bar.

Manchester Wine Festival is the brainchild of founders, Felix and Harriet Howell-Black, a husband and wife duo who each have a decade in hospitality under their belts. Why? A shared interest in all things wine, of course. 

“We decided to launch the festival as the wine scene across Manchester has absolutely exploded and we wanted to put all of that together – our love of wine, the city’s love of wine and our incredible bars and brands, both local to Manchester and UK wide. We want to showcase what the city has to offer and take away a bit of the snobbery around wine as well. Manchester Wine Festival is open to anyone however much or little they know!” Felix Howell-Black.

“People are really interested in learning about what they’re drinking, how it’s made, the story behind it and where it’s come from and I think that comes with a great opportunity for producers, wine bars and brands to come and interact with the consumer directly on an informal level. We’re looking to break away from stuffy wine tastings and create an accessible point of contact between the vendors and the drinkers along with DJ’s, great food, incredible drinks and entertainment in an iconic Manchester setting.” Harriet Howell-Black 

Tickets include entry to the Manchester Wine Festival, access to tastings/talks and samples.