Hangingditch

I’ve always lived in the local vicinity to Hangingditch — but why has it taken me so long to actually get there? Luckily, this all changed recently as we attended a Mikkeller beer tasting, hosted by Vicinity Drinks at this delightful wine (and now beer) bar.
Usually priced at the £20−25 mark, these tastings happen on a monthly basis and are worth giving a go if you a) like alcohol and b) like learning about alcohol. With the other half recently returning from Copenhagen, he was keen to try some more Mikkeller, and took me along for the ride in my ongoing beer education.
Lead by Will France, we were taken through 5 beers and one cocktail, each with its own little story and interwoven with the history of Mikkeller brewing itself. For example — all brewers used to be women as it was seen as a domestic chore. Yes, I do count this as an educational evening!
Service from the Hangingditch guys through the evening was good; we almost missed out on one of the beers, which turned out to be my favourite, but they were happy to provide an additional bottle to make up for it. A small selection of food was provided at the end of the evening, including crisps & dip and some delicious pork pies, and bread was available throughout the tasting.
Hangingditch is well and truly on our list of places to visit — especially as we can simply roll home afterwards.

The Hanging Ditch is a lovely wine merchant /​small wine bar situated at the Harvey Nichols end of Deansgate 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!

Love this little place! Stopped here on a bit of an impromptu night out. Firstly they are a wine merchant so there isn’t much these guys don’t know about wine secondly they do table service and all staff are well briefed on said wine thirdly they give you blankets when it’s a summer night in Manchester and your outdoors and get a bit chilly — what’s not to love?! Tried a sparkling Shiraz here and it was fab! I’m converted! Will defo be swinging by the hanging ditch to try some more of their wines which change on a regular basis! If you find a wine you love take note and buy, buy, buy it!

Hanging Ditch is an excellent independent wine shop. It sells a wide range of high quality wines as well as a small selection of craft beers. The staff are extremely knowledgeable and helpful. They know a lot about the wines they are selling and if you tell them the sort of thing you like they will find you a wine to suit your taste.
Hanging Ditch also has a few seats inside as well as a larger outside area if you want to stay for a drink in pleasant surroundings. If you do this my tip would be to buy a bottle as it works out much cheaper than buying a glass. The wine we were sipping was £6.50 a glass but the bottle was only £16 so we got a lot more wine for our money doing it that way. There was also the choice of prosecco and a sparking red shiraz which was interesting to try. Hanging Ditch I’ll be back.

Ok I love this place. I like to pick out a bottle of wine with a friend sit on the high stools in the 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.

Had extremely delicious wine here, also there is a pleasant area to sit outside which has heaters (which were only put on when it got properly cool — so not tooo bad for the environment). Staff very helpful and attentive. Would definitely go back.

Dear Hangingditch,
I’m afraid you are to blame for the hangover I’ve been suffering with for THREE DAYS now! But I’m in no way dissing you. You are pretty and classy and boast a very pleasant, peaceful atmosphere.
To sit outside your European city-​style bar with a chilled bottle of vino isn’t exactly cheap-​as-​chips (£24 for a bottle of ‘Dog Point’ New Zealand sauvignon blanc) BUT it’s not exactly a whopping price to pay for enjoying a deliciously fragrant and refreshing tipple, whilst admiring stunning views of the Cathedral either.
One snag though: the service was pretty slow. There seemed to be two members of staff but only one was doing the running around so it took her a while to get to us. That didn’t ruin it for us though. We’ll definitely return for a bottle of Dog Point next time the sun’s shining but perhaps next time we’ll line our stomachs a bit better beforehand and not get quite so pie-​eyed.
Feeling tender (still),
Ellie

I love this place for stocking up and for dropping by for a nice bottle on the way to a dinner party with some good mates. The atmosphere is upscale– nice soft music plays, it’s clean. I prefer beer over wine but I am partial to a good wine or two– my favorite red being Merlot and white… so many (really depends on the menu for the night– if it’s known). Whatever the menu or occasion calls for you can bet hanging ditch will have several appropriate options to choose from.
I have always dreaded the shopping for wine, much preferring the partaking of it — but this place makes the experience rather enjoyable. Especially when great assistance is readily available to help narrow down some of the many fine selections. It always leaves me feeling that I still have so much to learn and love about wine.

Have walked past this place on sunny days and seen many many people sat outside and wondered what it was like. It’s prices also seemed a bit bit high but boy is it worth it! Absolutely amazing wines and beers available to buy and a good selection to have a drink of there and then. The staff are really nice and helpful and gave us several free large tasters whilst we were deciding what to have. Really nice sat outside in the sun and although it hidden a little (next to the cathedral on the deansgate side) its worth a trip!

Hanging Ditch is a posh little wine bar near Manchester Cathedral, just behind a quadruple of popular bars, The Old Wellington, Oyster Bar, The Crown and Anchor and the newly re-​opened Mitre.
Whereas those bars are heaving from lunchtime onwards and are hardly relaxing, Hanging Ditch provides much needed respite from their bussle.
It’s a lovely peaceful place, open till 8 some evenings, where you can sit and read or chat in real peace and tranquillity. The wines are of course the speciality, and they’re excellent. The place sells some very expensive high-​quality wines but the house wine, available along with a good few others by the glass, is a very pleasant drink indeed. Its also reasonably priced, at around £4 for a large glass, not much more expensive than the Jacobs Creek in the nearby bars. Take-​away bottles start from £6.
The staff are lovely, and have a wealth of wine knowledge to tap into. They also do events, not just wine tasting but posh multi-​course dinners, if you feel like treating yourself.
A really gorgeous little place, the best of its kind in Manchester. I’d say it was equal to the Nicholas on Deansgate, another great winery, but whereas Nicholas is only a take-​away shop apart from special occasions, this place is open all week.

Manchester’s Hanging Ditch is a very smart and modern wine shop that offers delicious and tempting delights of the liquid variety. Both novices and connoisseurs can find something to take home in this small wine shop. Advice is offered in a friendly manner, and the wines (some 400 or so) starting at £6 a bottle, are split into easily understood categories (off dry, aromatic, rich and powerful). Better still, while you ponder, there’s limited indoor seating, and a larger summer terrace, where you can enjoy a beer, Mr Scruff teas and a pastry, or selected wines by-​the-​glass (from £3.50). These often include new samples and interesting relative bargains, or you can choose any bottle from the shelves… although there is a £6 corkage fee!

Situated in the prime spot between Harvey Nichols and Manchester Cathedral, this wine merchant means business. The creation of entrepreneurs Ben Stephenson and Mark Dent, the former being a member of the Guild of Sommeliers, everything about this bar and its 400-​plus selection of wines oozes class.
What I love about this ultra-​modern store is that the wines are organised by style and by grape variety rather than by country, which for me makes choosing a hell of a lot easier as I’m not all that familiar with regions but I know what flavours appeal to me. And with prices starting at just a couple of pounds and rising up through the hundreds, every budget is catered for.
My favourite thing to do though is order a glass of wine and a pastry and sit at the window bar to watch the world go by. The perfect respite to a busy afternoon in the city.