Reserve wine shop

For the past five years Reserve wine shop in Didsbury has established itself as one of the most successful wine shops in the North West. As a result it recently beat a hundred rivals to win the International Wine and Spirit Competition: Best Independent award.

“My aim in opening this shop was to encourage people to discover wine, to enjoy drinking it and not to be intimidated by it. This award comes as a seal of approval for the last five years,” said owner Kate Goodman as she was recently presented with her beautiful cut glass claret jug prize.

Together with her manager Chris Eastman, she has assembled over 400 wines from all over the world ranging in price from £4.50 to £200, and is a passionate advocate for the independent wine shop.

“It really is the only way to buy wine. You get personal service, help and advice that is never available in a supermarket. Chris and I do all our own buying after tasting so many wines ourselves.” The business also has a flourishing internet trade where you can access Reserve’s splendid wine list.

Intelligent and eclectic wine-buying dominates here, ranging from the marvellous selection of ports from the house of Niepoort to a good choice of Prosecco sparkling wines from Italy that have become a refreshing alternative to cava or middle-ranking champagne.

There are wines here that are becoming increasingly scarce as they assume universal cult status. Forget the overpriced and often overrated Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc and for £12.99 try the same grape variety from the Isobel vineyard, also in New Zealand.

Another wine available here that has become increasingly rare is Aussie Charles Melton’s Nine Popes (£21). This remarkable wine cocktail, crafted in the Barossa Valley, pays homage to Chateauneuf du Pape and is often better than much that the Southern Rhone produces.

The wines are competitively priced here and where there are bin ends or reductions they are genuine as opposed to so many supermarket promotions that can be misrepresented as real savings but are often contrived from bulk buying. Here there is true choice as opposed to the supermarket’s illusion of choice.

Kate has chosen two wines that best express Reserve’s remarkable range:

Anakena single vineyard Syrah 2005 (£7.49)
This is from Chile and is a dark, brooding beauty brimming with fruit and expresses well the incredible wine values that can be currently obtained from this country, its neighbour Argentina, and South Africa.

Domaine Astruc Viognier Vin de Pays d’Oc 2007 (£6.99)
Kate imported this herself. It’s a marvellous flowery example of viognier, a grape variety that grows splendidly in a region that is currently producing some of France’s finest value wines.

Reserve Wine Shop, 176 Burton Road, West Didsbury. T: 0161 438 0101. www.reservewines.co.uk