Reserve Wines

Reserve Wines was set up in 2003 by Kate Goodman, a straight-talking drinks expert and sometime BBC Food & Drink contributor, on a mission to make wine 'fun and accessible for everyone'. The West Didsbury shop on Burton Road remains the mothership, but the group has since spread across Greater Manchester with smaller branches including this one inside Altrincham Market. It occupies the Market House — the covered bar building beside the main food hall — a couple of minutes from Altrincham's tram and rail interchange, and manager Kallum and his team run relaxed tastings around the wine barrels as well as larger seated masterclasses with local names such as Honest Crust and Chorlton Cheesemongers.

The set-up is a hybrid: part bottle shop, part bar. More than 200 bottles line the walls to buy and carry out, while a changing list of seasonal wines by the glass and flight, eco-friendly keg wines, spritzes and cocktails is poured to drink in among the market's buzz. It stays open late for a wine shop — until 10pm Tuesday to Saturday — which makes it as much an evening spot as a daytime errand.

For non-drinkers the draw is the alcohol-free shelf, which Manchester Confidential singled out as 'a comprehensive alcohol-free wine selection that covers all your favourites taking in Riesling, Shiraz and Pinot Gris'. Expect zero-proof wine right across the board — De Bortoli's 'The Very Cautious One' Shiraz 0.0% and Vallformosa's Catalan 0% sparkling among them — plus white and rosé alternatives, and a proper run of artisan no-alcohol spirits and aperitifs. Lyre's Italian Orange stands in for an Aperol-style spritz, Three Spirit's botanical Livener, Nightcap and Social Elixir cover the functional end, and Pentire's coastal Adrift makes a crisp long serve with tonic. Staff are happy to open something or build an alcohol-free spritz to drink in, so it works equally well as a bottle-shop run or a low-key sober night out.