Carringtons is no place for Lambrini girls and Fosters fans, but if you appreciate fancy beer, wine…read moreand spirits, you'll love it! An award-winning off licence, it prides itself on offering things that are a little out of the ordinary. So you can expect to see a great mix of beers from tiny local breweries, as well as hard-to-find world beers, like New York's Brooklyn Lager and San Francisco's Anchor Steam Beer. The staff are friendly, knowledgeable and are always willing to make recommendations. So if you take a trip to this boozy treasure trove, you could end up finding the beer of your dreams! I can't really comment on the range of wines and spirits available I'm all about the beer. But I'm confident that even the fussiest wine lover will be impressed! My only gripe with this place is that it closes far too early! Most days, they seem to shut about 7pm and they're closed all day Sunday. If they stayed open until 8 or 9pm, I'm sure they'd get loads more customers. I know I'd visit a lot more!

Healthy looking wine merchants on the approach to Didsbury Village…read more It wasn't that long ago that the place was to be purchased and transmogrified into yet another (and one can only presume) soulless bar. Thankfully, and for whatever reason (pressure group one imagines), this never happened and we still have this wonderful menagerie of booze. Not only do they stock a large range of wines (and I haven't yet managed to choose a dodgy wine, unlike what can happen at supermarkets with their constant 50% off deals) but they also sell a fascinating array of beers (majority of which are British Premium) and ciders and malt whiskeys. Always willing to make a suggestion on your behalf (try as I do, I still have an extremely limited knowledge of the vino) they'll work around your budget (which again is usually extremely limited!). Haven't been recommended a wine that's probably best off in the Balsamic vinegar section in Morrisons. From what I can gather, most of the wines are from within the 'old school EU'...which suits me fine. You just can't recreate the romance of a real corked French number can you? I must add that it's blinking cold in there (the interior resembles a Canadian lodge) and the guys who run are usually decked out in Arctic puffer jacketsbut I guess this is to keep the stock at a certain temperatureI should have asked, perhaps the boiler has never been fixed? There's a couple more Carringtons (one in Chorlton and one in North Manchester).

There comes a time in every young adult's life when they realise they're simply not a student…read moreanymore, and your standard 3 for £12 plonk or multipack beer from Bargain Booze ain't going to cut it. You need something special. Why, you're a grown-up, you've a good job, you pay bills, you rent your own place, you're in a proper relationship and you're having people over. You want these people to have something a bit different to remember your soiree by. Well thank you Carringtons for shouldering that responsibility. Walking around this shop is like being six again and cooing over the Pick 'n' Mix at Woolworths, only this time you know how much everything costs because you're paying for it yourself. Yep, the rush of guilt from tugging on Mum's hand and whinging at her way back then comes soaring over again. Anyway, during my first introduction to Carringtons, I had a request that was both specific and vague in equal measure. I needed local beers, European beers, some nice Prosecco and a good gin. I had bugger all to worry about in the very capable hands of Rosco. He immediately packed up a couple of bottles of Prosecco into a box for me, took me round the shop pointing out some great beers, and when it came to the gin he said, 'Can you come tomorrow or do you need this for tonight? We've got a Brockmans delivery coming and that's great gin.' I was most certainly free the next day, and any yelper who made it to the Yelp Summer Stunner (http://vimeo.com/28057905) will know how amazing that is. Thanks to the introduction from Carringtons, we brought Brockmans to the Manchester masses! They've a spot in Didsbury Village too, and they're certainly the place to go if you love your Brewdog beers (I know several Mancunians who do). The service is great, the staff are knowledgeable and they love what they do. Can't say fairer than that for a great independent booze specialist!

If you're tired of smart price vodka and wine in cartons just labelled 'Australian Red Wine' then I…read morecan definitely recommend a trip to Carringtons. Stocking a range of boutique beers, handpicked wines and high-end spirits there is something here to suit all tastes. It may be a little bit pricey, as has been noted, but for that special occasion, gift or even a little treat for yourself (Just a couple of well-deserved bottles of Konig Ludwig Weissbier) Carringtons is perfect. The staff are knowledgeable about what they're selling - I know because I once worked at an off licence at home and I had absolutely no clue about what I was selling. I can sense the genuine opinion in their voice. They're not pushing three for twos or trying to make you buy lager by the case, they are happy to make recommendations according to your budget and personal taste. They run wine tastings and even a blog, how many branches of Threshers or Bargain Booze do you know that can say that.

Corks Out is my favorite wine shop in Warrington. They have all of the old world classics, but also…read morestock renegade new winemakers that are challenging the way things have always been done. I love to go in and give them a region, a style or something I want to pair with and just see what they recommend. Something (or sometimes three things) catch my eye!

Ok the bottom line with Corks out is that their selection of Wines is great. They stock wines that…read moremight not be available anywhere else, without hurting the wallet too much. Whether you are a wine buff or otherwise Corks ut has something to offer. The staff are very helpful, and more than happy to take you on a journey of discovery of a new spirit or wine, giving you good information about its history and all that hoopla. Very very interesting, such a shame I dont drink wine, but the experiance of visiting with a friend was really interesting, and I can imagine it would be a ball for wine buffs and wine lovers alike.

Burton Roadites had previously been able to buy a few select bottles of decent ale from the…read morewonderful Reserve Wines, but the Road had really been crying out for a craft beer shop. Enter Simon and Rob! These two beer lovers have gone with an elegant, minimalist aesthetic for their shop front, embracing the scene's move away from old-school design and towards something far more stylish. But don't worry, lovers of rustic chic - they've got comforting wooden shelves and crates of German beer stacked around the place, striking a nice balance between tradition and sleek modernity. This balance is reflected in the beers they stock - you can pick up all of your old favourites, while also choosing from a range which would get the hearts of hop-fiend beer nerds racing. Brilliant British beer, local ale, hop forward Americana, German lager, Belgian beer, Welsh cider, sweet fruit-flavoured beer, homemade pies, cordials... There's something here for every palate. The Epicurean has only been open for a couple of weeks, but already it feels like it's been on the Road forever. They've already hosted a couple of Meet the Brewers, so keep an eye on their Twitter and Facebook for upcoming events. Simon and Rob really do care about providing people with great beer, and, as the sign says, if you particularly want something that they don't have, they'll do their best to get their hands on it. You can't say fairer than that. (For a more detailed write up, you can pop over to my beer blog for a previously published full post about The Epicurean: http://rowanmolyneux.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/new-beer-shop-epicurean.html)

If I was to win the lottery, the Epicurean would be what my garage would look like! No joke - the…read morewalls are absolutely rammed with some of the finest beers on offer in the Greater Manchester area and it's somewhere that's obviously been set up by craft beer heads on a mission to make the place totally awesome! The nice thing about this place is that they have the 'amazing but standard' selections from breweries on this and that side of the pond but also stock all the different special varieties of the brand. For instance there must have been about 7 different types of Sierra Nevada on offer and closer to home the same amount from breweries such as Buxton, First Chop and Thornbridge - while still loads of room for smaller more boutique breweries! Ok so craft beer is never going to be cheap (with the news that hops are starting to run out and farmers can't keep up with demand, it's probably never going to go down) but I don't see the prices at the Epicurean being any more expensive than similar stores in Mancunia (you can buy cases in store of more generic craft beers like Longboard if you're having a bbq etc and want to save some cash) I went for the Buxton Imperial Black IPA - £2.75 - well worth the purchase, super rich and super hoppy and the FCB from First Chop which is another favourite at the mo - pretty good for £2.40! My wife was also pretty happy with her Timmermans Framboise - so it ticked all the boxes for our quality boozy weekend :-) Next time I'm in West Didsbury, I'll be popping in and picking up a few special bottles to enjoy!

The Hanging Ditch is a lovely wine merchant / small wine bar situated at the Harvey Nichols end of…read moreDeansgate right next to Manchester Cathedral. I've been here a few times for drinks and Neil C. has always insisted we swing by on occasion to pick up a lovely bottle of tipple to drink at home. The staff here are always lovely and so knowledgeable! I couldn't recommend it highly enough!

Ok I love this place. I like to pick out a bottle of wine with a friend sit on the high stools in…read morethe summer. I always ask what new wines they have in and normally go home with a few treats. Now they do a few gin cocktails. The staff know what they are talking about and know nothing about red wine so I go here when I need to buy a bottle of red. They have a nice loo too.

Such a great new addition to Chorlton. We went to a wine tasting tonight that was great value. Good…read morerange of wines to taste and the staff are helpful, friendly and knowledgeable. The wine tasting offered vegetarian canapés from a local supper club host and these complimented the drinks perfectly. We enjoyed all the wines on offer and the suppliers of several of them were there to answer questions and chat to customers, which was a great addition to the evening. The shop is named after the owner's rescue dog, Tiny, and he made a guest appearance! He was the icing on the cake for a perfect evening as we are dog lovers but can't have one ourselves. Both the owner and his partner who brought Tiny down were so friendly and made us feel really welcome. We enjoyed this evening so much we immediately bought tickets t the next one! Bottles for every budget and so much choice. Highly recommended.

Due to the categories on Yelp this has to be categorised as an off-licence, but it's really not…read more It's an alcohol shop. They sell an extensive range of wine, beer and spirits. On my visit I obviously went straight for the beer. The selection was great, with a number of usual suspects and some unusual ones I'd never seen before. There was a great representation of Manchester/Greater Manchester/North West brewers. In the end I went for a bottle of First Chop AVA and a bottle of Dunham Massey Chocolate Cherry Mild. These were both reasonably priced. I gave them to my dad as a present so cannot yet comment on the quality. I'd definitely go back here if I wanted to treat myself, if I wanted a gift for a beer lover, or if I was having people round for dinner and wanted some decent booze.

There are a few aspects to Majestic that need to be considered, not least its location: 5 minutes…read morewalk from where I live (for the Sale branch). Other considerations are the selection, the prices, the quality of the wine, the service. The selection is good. Majestic is a fairly big player - of course we're not talking supermarket size - and they cannot really cater for very small winemakers as they wouldn't get the volume. But all the main wine producing countries are represented and the range of quality goes from cheap to quite high level. The prices are also good and most wines are always on some kind of buy 2 get 20% off so that makes for good value on most of the range. The quality of wines I'd say is variable. I've had good and bad wines. They always have a selection on the sampling table for free but these always fail to impress. But I'm a snob bag so don't take my word for it and make your own opinion. The service is good and attentive but ultimately they are sales people and will direct you to what they need to sell. From a practical perspective note that you need to buy at least 6 bottles, whatever they are to make a purchase.

Spirited Wines obviously has a large selection of wines (which you can also drink in the bar…read moreupstairs) and have developed a strong whisky selection too, accompanied by tastings. Unsurprisingly, it's more expensive in here than online (a £110 bottle of whisky is £30 less online) but we probably would never have found out about it had we not gone in. There's a small bottled beer selection which has a large proportion of gluten free beers (better than M&S, Harvey Nichols or hangingditch). Everytime I have gone in I have found the staff to be really nice and helpful and it's nearly always the same people who I suspect are also the owners/managers.