New month, new glasses. We love refreshing our by-the-glass list, because it means bringing you something new to taste every few weeks. For the next two months we're heading to the Languedoc.

If you read why we're backing the Languedoc, you'll know the story. A region with a reputation for bulk wine is now home to a wave of independent growers making wines with real personality: unusual grapes, wildly different vineyards across a vast landscape, and bottles you won't find on every shelf. That's our kind of place.

Here's what's in the glass at our bars in Manchester, Altrincham and Macclesfield right now, and what's coming next.

On now until 23 October: four wines, four styles

Two whites and two reds, one easy-going and one more serious of each. Pop into any of our wine bars and bottle shops to taste your way through them.

Domaine Monplézy, Canon Huppé Blanc 2025, from £7.50 per 125ml glass.

Pink grapefruit first, then pear, then a squeeze of lemon right at the end.

This is Vermentino (also called Rolle) from IGP Côtes de Thongue, and it's the easiest yes on the list. If you usually go for Pinot Grigio or a Provence-style white, start here.

Monplézy sits on a hill about 4km from Pézenas, around 30km inland from the Mediterranean, with garrigue on every side. The family took the estate independent in 2000 and went organic that same year. The insects came back. So did the birds. The estate's emblem is the hoopoe, which nests in the old tree trunks they deliberately leave standing.

Sarrat de Goundy, Le Planteur Blanc 2025, from £9 per 125ml glass.

Honey, beeswax, candied lemon, fresh walnuts, all arriving slowly.

A blend of Bourboulenc, Roussanne, Grenache Blanc and Macabeo from AOC La Clape. Nine months in older oak and time on the lees give it real drive and a long finish. It's got the weight to go with food, so try it next to tacos, pizza, ramen or a chicken burger.

La Clape was once an island. It's a block of limestone on the coast near Narbonne that only joined the mainland in the Middle Ages, when silt from the river Aude closed the channel. Just 778 hectares of vines grow in the whole appellation, and there's evidence of vines on this rock from the 6th century BC.

Sarrat de Goundy, Les Saisonniers Rouge 2025, from £7 per 125ml glass.

Strawberry and dark cherry straight away, a twist of black pepper behind it.

Grenache and Syrah from IGP Aude. Pure, juicy fruit with no hard edges. If you're the sort who says "just give me something good", this is the one.

Les Saisonniers sits outside the appellation La Clape, in the wider Aude, which is what lets them make it at this price. Olivier has also been working with terracotta since 2013 and now keeps around twenty-five 155-litre jars for his reds.

Sarrat de Goundy, Le Planteur Rouge 2024, from £9 per 125ml glass.

Dark, spicy fruit and garrigue herbs: blackcurrant, bay leaf and a line of vanilla from the barrel.

Syrah, Grenache and Mourvèdre from AOC La Clape, aged twelve months in oak (30% of it new), which gives it real structure.

It's named after Claude Calix, the father of winemaker Olivier. Claude bought his first vineyard in 1966, and Olivier watched him as a boy planting these vines by hand into hardened rock, on a hillside looking down the valley to the sea. Olivier is the third generation and now runs the estate with his mother, Rosy.

Coming 23 October: four more Languedoc glasses

Halfway through, we swap the whole line-up. Here's what's next:

• Gayda, Figure Libre Freestyle Blanc 2023: part aged in concrete, part in oak barrels, so you get bright citrus freshness with a creamy texture underneath.
• La Dourbie, Marius Blanc 2024: white blossom and stone fruit, made from Terret, a grape with under 1,000 hectares left in the whole of France.
• Gayda, Figure Libre Freestyle Rouge 2024: big, ripe dark fruit with smoked meat, dark chocolate and warm spice, and no oak at all.
• La Dourbie, Marius Rouge 2023: Cinsault-led, juicy and direct up front, with Grenache and Syrah adding punch behind it.

Where to try them

All four wines are pouring now at:

West Didsbury | Altrincham Market House | Mackie Mayor | Picturedrome, Macclesfield

Bring the Languedoc home

Can't make it in? We've pulled together our favourite Languedoc bottles, including the wines above, with delivery across the UK. Good company for autumn evenings and Sunday roasts.

Shop our Languedoc wines

Languedoc by the glass: FAQs

When are the Languedoc wines on by the glass?

The first four wines are pouring now until 23 October. Four more Languedoc wines take over from 23 October.

Which Reserve Wines bars are pouring them?

All of them: West Didsbury, Mackie Mayor in Manchester city centre, Altrincham Market House, and Picturedrome in Macclesfield.

Can I buy the by-the-glass wines to take home?

Yes. You can pick up a bottle at any of our bottle shops, or order online from our Languedoc collection for delivery across the UK.