TV’s wine expert Helen McGinn: ‘I need to know where my wines are coming from, and who’s making them’

International wine judge, resident wine expert on BBC1 Saturday Kitchen and ITVs This Morning, Helen McGinn was a wine buyer for Tesco for nearly a decade.

A self-confessed champion of supermarket wines, she began blogging as a side hustle. “I started the wine blog for fun, honestly, to stop my friends from calling me in a panic from the wine aisle,” McGinn tells the Press Association.

“I just thought, I’ll taste a couple of wines every week, different wines from different supermarkets; things I think are really good and my friends would love, and that’s how The Knackered Mother’s Wine Club blog started back in 2009.”

A runaway success, the award-winning blogger went on to write her first drinks book The Knackered Mother’s Wine Guide: Because Life’s Too Short to Drink Bad Wine.

“I was basically writing the wine guide for all my friends and family. All the questions they ever asked me about wine, how to navigate a supermarket wine aisle, how not to buy a dud bottle, how to work your way around a wine list.

“All the usual and some basics as well, because I felt at the time, a lot of wine guides out there were very technical, very detailed; and definitely not aimed at people who just wanted a bit of help when it came to navigating the wall of wine,” she explains.

Fast forward to today, and the 53-year-old mother-of-three with 141k Instagram followers has written a new wine book, The Supermarket Wine Guide… a deep dive into the best supermarket wines on the shelves, ranging from £5 to £20, across all the major styles.

Here McGinn shares her top tips to guide your trolley in the right direction…

Avoid ‘too good to be true’ promotions

“I think there are a few things to bear in mind that really help… one is, if an offer looks too good to be true, it usually is.

“So if there is a label you’ve never seen or tasted before and it’s got a big offer on it; before you fill your boots, just buy a bottle, take it home and try it.”

Because I think sometimes, this is a trap people fall into, highlights McGinn. “You see something that looks like an absolute bargain, but you’ve got to be able to drink more than one glass of it – and properly enjoy it.

“Also, I’m at an age where I can’t drink like I used to. So if I’m going to drink a glass of wine, I need it to be delicious, and I need to make it count.

“I’m not interested in drinking the really cheap wines anymore that don’t really taste of anything, that don’t give me a sense of place, or aren’t a good example of the variety that it’s made from.”

She continues: “That’s what I’m trying to steer away from, the really bottom-end stuff because to me, that feels too much like fast fashion.

“I need to know where my wines are coming from, and who’s making them; that I’m going to want more than a glass of it, and enjoy it.”

Seek out premium supermarket own labels

“Really trust in the own label ranges, particularly the smarter than your average. Finest, Taste the Difference, M&S Found, Waitrose Loved & Found, they’ve all got their own versions of this.”

And she says sometimes, you’re talking about spending just a pound more to get those wines versus the basic.”

Indeed, if you spend a pound more on a bottle of wine, because of the fixed costs (duty and VAT), the extra pound “generally speaking” does go into what’s inside the bottle, suggests McGinn.

“Especially in the case of own label, because you’re not then paying for a brand… so I think those ranges are particularly worth looking out for.”

“When it comes to shopping in a supermarket, a little bit of forward planning goes a long way,” she advises. “Because if you’ve already decided what you might be eating, for example, you’ve probably got a good idea what colour wine you’re looking for.

“And if you do a bit of forward planning, you’re less likely to be side tracked or put in the position of panic buying.”

Even if it’s just one great variety, or a particular country. “So you don’t get ‘the overwhelm’, which I think happens very often in the wine aisle”.

McGinn continues: “I often liken it to going clothes shopping. If you don’t really know what you’re looking for, you invariably come out disappointed; either empty handed or with something you didn’t really want anyway.

“And it’s exactly the same with wine. With a bit of forward planning, you’re much more likely to leave with the bottle you wanted – rather than something you didn’t.”

Three superb wines to pluck from the shelf

McGinn has selected a white, sparkling rosé and red for summer sipping and beyond…

“Starting with the white, I think the Greek whites we’re getting on supermarket shelves are so delicious and such good value.

“I would describe them as summary in character, and this particular one from the M&S Found range, is just under £10 – and it manages to taste of both lemons and sea salt at the same time.”

She continues: “It’s got this gorgeous citrusy character. But then there is such a crispness to it, and for me, it’s one of those really lovely whites that everyone will love.

“There’s nothing about it you can’t not love, and quite often now, white wine drinkers fall into different camps.”

You either like the lighter, crisper whites; or riper rounder whites, suggests McGinn. “This one manages to do both and deliciously so. It kind of sits somewhere in the middle style wise.”

“For the sparkling rosé, I’ve gone to England because that’s my next exciting region, particularly when it comes to supermarkets.

“Until recently we had lots of English sparkling, but we’ve now got more still wines coming onto the shelves which is really exciting.

“Yes, they’re a bit more than you might normally spend, but they’ve [still wines] got a lot more affordable in recent years. So if you haven’t tried them, do.”

But the one she’s picked is sparkling rosé from the Co-op. “It’s such a lovely wine. Goodness me!

“It’s made by Balfour Winery and the amount of times I’ve tasted it, up against its competitor set, and it absolutely wins time and time again.

“It’s mostly pinot noir. So you get this amazing, almost like a strawberries and cream character, which is so English. Just delicious.”

“I know Argentina is hardly new, but I would say their wines have changed quite dramatically in the past 10 years.

“Obviously it was all about malbec for such a long time, at least when it comes to supermarket wines. But now, if you shop around, you can find some really interesting stuff, including whites as well… I love some of their cooler climate chardonnays.”

But the red she’s picked is a cabernet franc in Tesco. Referencing the price point, she says whenever there’s a 25% offer, “that’s one of the smart ones to get the discount because it’s really worth it”.

Cabernet franc is so often lost in the mix and blended with other grapes, highlights McGinn, but this is 90% cabernet franc with a splash of malbec. “Just incredible, so vibrant.”

“To me, it tastes like a wine that if it wasn’t in a supermarket, it would be twice as much. It’s fabulous, and smells of violets, which again is that really classic cabernet franc tell-tale sign.

The Supermarket Wine Guide: Which Bargain Bottle to buy, by Helen McGinn, is published by Penguin, priced £14.99 is available now.